The Bond: Revisted
by RedLightsRedFights
Summary: Saru is Goku's twin sister, sharing his happy-go-lucky attitude and naive nature. However even though she has faced every challenge with him, there is one challenge she must face alone when she begins to grow feelings for a certain Saiyan Prince. A re-imagining of my story The Bond. Vegeta/OC. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Reunion

"Goku!"

Saru rushed up to the house, nearly tripping in her haste, waving excitedly as she went in both greeting and to keep her balance. Her wild black hair was tied back in a pony tail, her wide blue eyes shining, her mouth set in a big smile. She had been looking forward to this day for months. It was the reunion today, time to go and see all her old friends again, friends she hadn't seen for almost five years. It thrilled her to no end to see how much they had changed or how strong they had gotten, even though there had been nothing but times of peace since Piccolo's defeat.

Chichi opened the door just in time to see Saru yelp as she tripped and landed sprawling across the grass.

"Ah! Saru! Are you okay?" she asked as she rushed in.

"Oh! No! I mean yes, I'm fine!" laughed Saru as she sat up to see Chichi reaching out to help her up, "Oh, no it's okay, Chichi, I got it!" she bounced up, but in her excitement and haste, the strength in her legs sent her flying up twenty feet into the air.

Saru let out a wail as she crashed back down to the ground, narrowly missing landing right on top of Chichi. She coughed from the dust cloud she had sent up and then laughed again, getting to her feet more carefully this time, "Sorry, Chichi! I guess I'm just so excited today!"

Chichi looked over her nervously, "Honestly, Saru, you really scare me sometimes. You haven't changed a bit since we were kids."

"I guess not, huh?" Saru smiled, "Where's Goku?"

"Your brother took Gohan out into the woods earlier, he should be back any moment," said Chichi, "Why don't you come inside and have a snack?"

Saru's face lit up, "Oh that'd be great! Thanks!" she said happily.

Chichi's cooking was amazing. It was one of the reasons Saru came around so much, other than to visit her brother and nephew.

As she munched on some delicious dumplings, Chichi sat at the table across from her, "So who all do you think will be there?"

"Everyone was invited," said Saru through a mouthful, "Krillin, Yamcha, Bulma, Tien, Chiaotzu, and since it's being held at Kame House, it's a safe bet Master Roshi and Oolong and the others will be there!"

Chichi smiled lightly, "It's nice to see you so happy to see your old friends," she said.

"We went through so much together!" Saru replied eagerly, "Master Roshi trained Goku, Krillin, and myself into the fighters we are today! And Yamcha some too, though Goku and I were done training under Roshi when he started. That was when we went traveling all around the world and faced the Red Ribbon Army," Saru beamed, "There's a lot of memories I have with Goku. We faced everything together."

"And you're still really close," Chichi commented, nodding, "He always talks about you even when you're not visiting."

"I still remember how we didn't recognize you from the last tournament!" laughed Saru, "You had changed so much we didn't even know!"

Chichi laughed and shrugged, "And I was so mad. But I couldn't stay long at your brother for long."

"It's hard to with him," agreed Saru cheerfully, and then her head snapped around as she sensed a familiar power source, "Goku!" she cried and rushed to the door, nearly breaking it down in her excitement.

Bursting outside, she saw Goku carrying Gohan back toward the home. When he spotted Saru sprinting at them he yelped and hastily put Gohan down in time for Saru to tackle him to the ground. They instantly broke out into a wild brawl, flailing across the clearing, throwing punches and kicks and laughing wildly the entire time. Goku barely managed to dodge a heft right hook from Saru and he yelped in surprise.

"Wow, Saru, you've been training!"

"So have you!" Saru replied as she narrowly avoided a kick to the gut.

"Will you two stop it?!" Chichi cried, "You're going to break something! And don't you have a reunion to go to?"

Saru and Goku sprang apart.

"That's right!" Saru yelped, and then tripped again and fell back on her backside.

Gohan came over to her, eyes wide, "Auntie Saru, are you okay?" he asked.

Saru laughed and rubbed the back of her neck, reddening a bit in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm fine, Gohan!" she said, "Are you ready to go?"

Gohan smiled lightly at her and nodded.

"You three be careful, and have fun," said Chichi, "But come back soon, okay?"

"We'll be fine, Chichi," said Goku, then looked up to the sky, "NIMBUS!"

A golden cloud came rushing down to them and halted before Goku at waist height. Saru jumped up and gasped.

"Oh, that's right! NIMBUS!" she cried.

A second cloud rushed down, but instead of stopping in front of her it ran straight into her, knocking her onto it and then flew around in circles overhead as if in excitement.

"WAAH!" Saru wailed, "Goku, how is yours so well trained?!"

"I dunno," Goku laughed as he picked up Gohan and sat on his own Nimbus cloud, "Maybe Korin gave you a hyper one!"

Saru gasped as her Nimbus finally calmed and she looked down at Goku, "Okay, ready?" she asked.

"Let's go, I'm sure the others will be waiting," said Goku with a grin.

"Okay, Nimbus," said Saru, "To Kame Ho- WAAAH!" she wailed as her Nimbus rocketed off before she could finish speaking, clinging tightly to the poof-y yet solid mounds of cloud as it raced her off to the ocean, Goku laughing and following behind her.

*.*.*

Saru leapt off the Nimbus when she was above the island because she knew the psychotic thing wasn't going to land for her. It was kind of how it had always been with that thing, ever since she got it, but somehow, she kind of liked it that way. However, Saru still wasn't so good at landing.

Sending a tidal wave of sand in every direction upon impact, Saru laid there stunned for a moment before sitting up and shaking herself out like a dog, sending even more sand out everywhere. Goku's Nimbus halted beside her and he hopped off and laughed.

"Saru, I don't get it, you're never this clumsy in battle!" he said.

"That's because- actually I don't know why that is," said Saru with a laugh as she got up.

"Goku! Saru!"

Saru looked over and beamed, "Krillin!" she cried and rushed in and picked him up in a tight hug.

"BAH! Ah! S-Saru- c-can't breathe-" he rasped.

"Oops!" Saru very, very, _very_ gently set him down and then brushed some sand off his shirt.

Krillin was a short little guy, always had been, only reaching about four foot nine, and was completely bald with six uniform dots tattooed on his forehead. He was in the same attire as her and Goku, their old orange sleeveless jumpers with the turtle symbol over their hearts and a larger version of it stamped on their backs.

"I see you've gotten stronger!" Krillin laughed, rubbing his chest, "I think you might have cracked a rib."

"Oh, no!" Saru wailed, distressed, "I didn't, did I?!"

"No, no, Saru," Krillin chuckled, "I'm just kidding. You haven't changed a bit!"

"Neither have you!" said Saru, relieved she hadn't actually hurt her old friend, "Where are the others?"

"Here," said a familiar voice and Saru turned to beam at the sight of a blue-haired, blue-eyed woman in a white jacket and shorts.

"Bulma! It's so good to see you!" Saru said cheerfully, but didn't tackle hug, afraid she might actually break someone's rib this time, "You look great! I love your… hair… that's what girls say to each other right?" she double checked at the end.

Bulma laughed, "I see all my lessons have gotten through to you! That was better than complimenting me on how my ears are shaped."

Saru laughed nervously.

"Hey, Goku, come and say hi, why don't cha?" asked Krillin, then he blinked when he looked at Goku fully, "Uh… Goku? What's with the kid? Are you baby-sitting or something?"

"Oh, no," laughed Goku as he gently set Gohan down, "This is my son, Gohan."

"You're WHAT?!" yelped Krillin.

"Ah, Gohan," an old man stepped outside now, his bald head gleaming in the sunlight and long white beard billowing slightly in the breeze as he adjusted the sunglasses on his nose, "You named him after your grandfather, then?"

"Yup!" said Saru cheerfully, then placed her hands together and bowed formally, "How are you, Master Roshi?"

"Doin' fine, my girl," Roshi said, smiling at her from under his beard, "It'd been a while. You've sure- heh heh- grown!" he leaned in closer, "Let me just make sure your muscle mass is doin' okay-" he reached up as he spoke, hands going out toward her chest.

Saru blinked at his actions, perking a brow, "Well if you insist-" she began, but Bulma smacked Roshi over his head before more could be said.

"You perverted old man!" Bulma spat angrily, "She was your student, you've known her since she was a little girl!"

"I can't help it that she grew up!" said Roshi irritably, but was backing away, "It's not as fun if you knew them when they were youngsters though…"

"Well, maybe there is hope for you after all," sighed Bulma and looked back to Goku, "So he's your kid, huh?" she asked.

"Say hi, Gohan," Goku encouraged.

"Hello," Gohan muttered and bowed.

"Aw, he so formal, it's cute," said Bulma as they all walked out toward them, "So are you going to be a big strong fighter like your dad and aunt, Gohan?"

Gohan shook his head.

"Chichi doesn't want him fighting," said Goku, a hint of sadness in his voice, "She said that there's more productive things to do in life other than martial arts."

"No training, huh?" asked Krillin, frowning down at the boy.

"I've been teaching him some stuff when Chichi's not looking," Saru said softly with a grin.

"Yeah, and Chichi doesn't yell at Saru when she gets caught like she would with me," Goku laughed.

"It's kind of hard to yell at Saru," said Krillin, watching as Gohan went over to greet the large sea turtle by the water's edge, "Oh, hey! He has a tail!"

Saru looked over to see Gohan's tail was waving around as he yelped when the water rushed in at him and he ran away from it.

"Yeah, just like Saru and I did when we were born," said Goku happily, "He was born with it."

"Wait, so…" Bulma glanced nervously at Goku, "Has he ever… say… looked at the full moon before, Goku?"

"Huh?" Goku blinked, "Uh, no, I don't think so, we go to be pretty early."

"Why?" Saru asked, perking a brow at Bulma.

"Ahhaha! No reason!" Bulma waved her hands.

"Well, he sure isn't like you two when you were kids," said Krillin as he watched Gohan yelp and run away from the rising water again.

"Yeah," sighed Goku, frowning, "He's kept inside a lot, so there's a lot of things that frighten him."

"Oh, no, he can be brave," said Saru cheerfully, "He just has to have the right motivation is all."

Gohan came scampering back over to them and Saru picked him up, "Right Gohan? You're my tough little orthopedist, huh?"

"An orthopedist?" Bulma blinked.

"That's what I'm going to be when I grow up," said Gohan.

"Oh wow," Krillin laughed a little, "I'm not even sure I know what that is."

"Don't worry, neither do I," Saru whispered and grinned big at him.

Before anyone else could say more, however, Saru felt a spark in her senses. She gasped and looked out across the sea, and Goku did the same, the two of them staring out at the water, their postures tightening.

"Auntie Saru…?" Gohan asked uncertainly.

"What's up guys?" Bulma asked.

"I can sense something coming this way," said Goku, "And it doesn't feel friendly."

"Yeah, I can feel it too now," said Krillin, his face turning grave, "Whoever it is feels strong."

"I don't like it," Saru breathed, "There's a darkness in it."

"It's getting closer," hissed Goku, taking a step back and looking up.

Saru held Gohan tighter to her, glaring up at the sky, a terrible feeling gathering in her gut.

And there he was.

A figure appeared above them and slowly began to lower until he landed on the sand before them, smirking. He had a long mane of wild black hair, a strange set of armor on with wide shoulder pads, as well as a strange device on his face with a transparent screen over one of his eyes.

"There you two are," he said, crossing his arms, "I've been looking for you everywhere. You've both grown, but I'd recognize you anywhere, no matter how much time has passed, Kakarot and Celira. What have the two of you been doing?"

It took Saru a moment to realize that he was speaking to herself and Goku.

"You two know this guy?" Krillin asked, looking at them and thumbing in the man's direction.

"I've never seen him before in my life," said Goku, "But just looking at him is turning my stomach."

"I don't know him either," said Saru, setting Gohan down and pushing him behind her, "Who are you?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb, you can't fool me," laughed the man, "Come now, you can't seriously tell me you don't remember me? It's me, Raditz."

"We don't know you," said Goku harshly, "You must have us mistaken with someone else. Now please leave."

Raditz looked from one of them to the other then frowned, "Wait, you two are actually serious? How can you not remember me? Remember your mission?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," said Saru, "We're sorry, but really, you should go," she said the words more forcefully than she meant and gasped at herself, "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh!"

Raditz let out an angry grunt, "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he growled, "What happened to you two?! Wait… tell me, Kakarot, Celia, did either of you ever hit your heads when you were children?"

"I don't know who this Kakarot or Celira is you keep talking about, you have the wrong people," said Goku forcefully.

"Answer me!" spat Raditz.

Goku glanced back at Saru who shrugged. Goku sighed and looked back at Raditz, "Yes, we were playing when we were still babies and fell into a ravine."

"Damn it, you both forgot!" Raditz snarled, glaring at them, "That explains everything! I expected to come back to this planet to find it empty but instead I find you two idiots have just been sitting around playing games! Absolutely ridiculous! Even with a nice full moon, and with two of you, this should have been wiped clean in a year or two at most!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Saru, frowning, "What does the moon have to do with anything?"

"Don't you play dumb with me, Celira, you know full well that the moon is the key to unlocking our full power, whether you lost your memories or not you still have- wait… Celira- Kakarot- Where are your tails?!"

"Our tails?" Goku glanced back at Saru again, then forward, "They were removed permanently a long time ago."

"What?!" Raditz yelped, "Are you two idiots?! Do you realize what you've DONE?! You've cut off your most valuable power source!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Goku, "So either start explaining or leave, now!"

Raditz took a deep breath as if to calm himself, "Fine. I didn't expect I was going to have to give a history lesson when I got here," he glared from Goku to Saru, "I am a Saiyan, a warrior race that has now dwindled down to only five members. You," he nodded to Goku, "Are Kakarot, and that," he nodded to Saru, "Is your twin sister Celira. You were sent here to this world when you were infants to purge it of life."

Saru blinked, "What? That can't be true!" she said, "Why would we do that?"

"Because it's what Saiyans do," said Raditz harshly, "We're planet brokers of sorts. We find prime worlds and wipe them of life to sell them to races looking to expand or find new homes to make a profit."

"That's disgusting," said Goku, "Sending children off to do something like that!"

"It's actually why I'm here," said Raditz coolly, "You see, we came across a perfect planet that would make us a killing, but it's a bit too big of a job for only three of us. But then I remembered the two of you," he smirked, "And how you were sent here. You're not as strong as I expected you to be by now, but it's probably due to how you both lost your memories and became soft thinking you're one of these filthy beings," he cast a disgusted look at Krillin and the others.

"Look, pal, you've got this wrong," said Krillin as he walked forward, "That's not this Kaka-whatsit or Celi-whoever, that's Goku and Saru. Now get lo-"

SMACK!

Saru wailed in shock as something lashed out at Krillin from Raditz's body and flung him back into the house where he crashed through the wall.

"Krillin!" she and Goku both yelled in unison.

And then Saru saw what hit Krillin. What she had assumed to be a fur belt before was now twisting idly at Raditz side- a tail. She gaped at it in pure shock.

"He has a tail," she breathed.

"I see that," said Goku softly.

"Oh, I almost forgot one of the most important parts," said Raditz, smirking at them, "You see, the reason I knew you two were here was because I was present when your space pod was sent out, seeing as our father couldn't be at the time."

"… 'Our' father?" Goku repeated dryly.

"Yes," laughed Raditz, "You see, I told you I would recognize you both no matter how much time we spent apart. I'm your older brother."

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_

_** Oh boy, another DBZ story! To my readers, this is going to become a revised version of "The Bond". I am still continuing "The Bond", of course! So DON'T PANIC there. (I'm far too attached to Makoto to let that one go.) However, when I went back and reread the story, yes the whole thing, I realized that my beloved Katima was… well… lacking. It made me sad to realize how two dimensional she was. So I thought to myself, hey, I know my readers miss Vegeta action now that I'm in GT and it's focusing on the kids, so why not do some tweaking? So I went back and found all the things I wished I did through the first time of writing "The Bond" two years ago, and began to fit them in. **_

_** FIRST! Names. I didn't think about it at the time when I first started writing it, but though Katima means power and I thought that was neat, I forgot about how all Saiyan names have something to do with food! Another thing is that Bardock's family in particular are all named after edible roots, Bardock- burdock, Kakarot- carrot, Raditz- radish. So Saru's Saiyan name, Celira, is for celeriac, a celery like root vegetable I had to internet search for, heh. I also thought it would be more amusing with her having a 'human' name like Goku does, so when she does meet Vegeta, it will be hilarious seeing her trying to get him to call her 'Saru' instead of Celira. **_

_** SECOND! Time placement… thing.. Basically, I realized I never really gave too much back story as to how much younger Katima was to Goku in "The Bond" and realized if he was sent off to space when he was a baby, unless Saiyans can go through a pregnancy in a week or less, Katima couldn't possibly be his YOUNGER sister. So, Saru is his twin, and they arrived in the same pod.**_

_** THIRD! Making the OC three dimensional. For all intents and purposes, Saru is STILL Katima. However I have given her personality a good few tweaks to make her stand out more, and to also make for even more amusing times when she finally meets Vegeta. As you can tell from what I have so far, she's a bit more hyper in some areas, but also doesn't know her own strength a lot of the times. And while she does love fighting, you will come to find she doesn't like hurting anyone, and often will apologize mid-battle to her opponents. This will also lead her into some trouble, naturally.**_

_** FOURTH! Having Saru REALLY be Goku's sister. This may sound confusing, so I'll explain. In "The Bond", Katima didn't even meet Goku until Vegeta and Nappa arrived, so I couldn't really have a realistic brother-sister bond with them, even though I tried, it just didn't feel authentic. So, with Saru arriving in the same pod as Goku, she too was adopted by Grandpa Gohan, and went through all the events of Dragon Ball with him every step of the way, with being trained by Master Roshi, facing the Red Ribbon Army, drinking the Devine Water, and helped defeat King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr. As of the beginning of this story, she is on par with Goku's strength. This will also give more drama when she meets Vegeta because she will be so much closer to his ultimate rival.**_

_** I think that's mostly everything! For any new readers, DON'T PANIC! You do not have to read "The Bond" to read this story by any means, since this is just a reimagining of it. However that story is still in progress and in the GT saga by now if you wanna read it. So let me know what you all think, please! Looking forward to another grand adventure!**_


	2. Blood Ties

"Th-that's not possible!" Saru stammered, staring in horror, "I only have one brother!"

"Not true, Celira," said Raditz evenly, folding his arms across his chest, "Our father's name was Bardock. Years ago he, along with the rest of our race, was wiped out due to a meteorite striking our home world, Vegeta. Luckily, the two of you were sent off to this world shortly before the explosion. As I said before, there's only three of us besides the two of you left alive, and the planet we need to conquer is a bit too big of a job for just us. So I'm here to take you both with me."

"That's not going to happen!" said Goku, "There's no way we would go anywhere with the likes of you! You can't be our brother! I don't buy this story of yours for a second. Saru and I are human! We were born here!"

"Goku…"

Goku blinked and looked back. Saru also looked over her shoulder to see Roshi frowning toward them.

"I'm afraid he might be telling the truth," said Roshi.

"What?" cried Saru, "But how?"

"Your Grandpa Gohan never told you two this, but he instructed me to tell you when the time came, and I suppose now is a good a time as any. You see, you know that your Grandfather found you both in the woods. Well, he actually found you within a strange pod of sorts, it was mechanical and in a huge crater. It appeared to have fallen from the sky. He said that he took the two of you in, but you were both wild and he could barely control you both, that you would try and destroy everything you touched. Then, one day, there was a terrible accident, and the two of you fell deep into a ravine. Both of you sustained heavy injuries to your heads, and Gohan was afraid you weren't going to make it. But you both pulled through, and you were each happy children from that day on," said Roshi, adjusting his sunglasses slightly, "So this Raditz's story makes sense."

Saru stared. Was it possible? Could she and Goku really not even be human? The two of them had always been stronger than everyone, and got stronger each time they fought, they had been able to survive drinking the Divine Water to defeat King Piccolo, they had thwarted death time and time again. So yes, Saru knew they weren't normal, but aliens?!

"I see…" said Goku slowly, looking back at Raditz, "But that doesn't change the fact that we're not going with you."

"That's right," said Saru firmly, "We fight to protect life not destroy it! So please just- just-" she mustered up all her bravery to say the words, "Just get lost you big jerk!" then paled a bit, "Oh that sounded so mean, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry to him!" said Bulma, "He slapped Krillin through a wall! Krillin, are you alright by the way?" she glanced over to where Krillin was picking himself out of the hole in Kame House.

"Oh sure, just peachy, don't mind me, I think I just got a thousand slivers in my ass…" he mumbled.

"Perhaps I should rephrase this," said Raditz, stepping forward, making them all look to him again and Goku and Saru crouched defensively, "I wasn't asking you. You're coming with me, period."

"I said no!" Goku snapped, "Now leave before I make you leave!"

Raditz laughed heartedly, "Oh that's cute. I don't think you understand the difference in power between us, Kakarot. Even if you and Celira teamed up on me, you'd stand no chance. But I can see you're going to make this difficult, and I would prefer if you would come willingly," slowly his eyes traveled down, "Tell me. Which one of you decided to breed with one of the disgusting creatures of this planet?"

Saru saw that he was looking at Gohan. She pushed Gohan behind her more, narrowing her eyes. Goku stepped in front of her, "You leave him out of this!" he snapped harshly.

"I see, so he's yours then, Kakarot? Let me make this clear," said Raditz, "I see that child has a tail. In his true form, his power could easily equal the two of yours put together, so I'll give you a choice. Either the two of you come with me, or the boy does."

"That's not an option!" shouted Goku, "Listen to me, I'm giving you one last chance to leave!"

Raditz merely smirked at Goku, "You are just so precious, little brother."

"Don't call me that!" Goku said, "I'm no brother of yours!"

He rushed forward, making to do a powerful right hook into Raditz face, but then in a blink of an eye, Raditz knee snapped up and collided into Goku's gut. Saru could feel the force of the hit from where she stood and stared in horror as Goku fell over in the sand, gasping for air in tight wheezes, clutching his gut.

"Goku!" Saru yelped.

Raditz laughed and looked over at her, "So? Care to join our brother on the ground, Celira? Or are you going to hand over the child or come with me?"

"You can't do this!" Saru said, "It isn't right! If you really are our brother why would you hurt us? We're your family!"

"Oh? This isn't right is it? Because we're blood I should show mercy or sympathy, yes? This filthy rock truly has made you soft, sister. It's a disgrace," Raditz spat on the ground, "You know what, I'm feeling generous today. All I really need is one of you. So how about it Celira? Come with me and I'll leave Kakarot and his little hybrid brat alone."

Saru looked back at Gohan uncertainly then at Raditz.

"Saru, no!" rasped Goku, trying to sit up, "You can't!"

Saru shifted her feet uncomfortably, "I can't kill innocent lives, no matter what!" she breathed, clenching her fists, "Goku is my brother, Gohan is my nephew, but you're no family of mine!" she flinched a bit at her own harsh words, but pushed on, "So I only have one choice!" she crouched and stared pleadingly at Raditz, "Please go! I don't want to do this, even if you are a monster."

"You're pathetic," said Raditz coldly, glaring at her, "You saw what I did to Kakarot, what do you possibly think you can do?"

"I don't know," Saru admitted, "But I can't let you do this!" she closed her eyes for a moment, feeling her body begin to shake, "I'm so sorry about this!" her eyes snapped open and she rushed forward, fist held back.

"Saru!" Goku wailed.

Saru wasn't listening to him. Her face set and a cry on her lips, she rushed in, a rare anger filling her heart. As her fist swung in to uppercut, she saw Raditz elbow darting out at her. But she had seen his speed from when he attacked Goku and wasn't underestimating him. She narrowly dodged it by back stepping and swinging up a hefty kick in the same move.

It connected.

Saru gasped in shock and horror as Raditz's head snapped back from the blow, but before she could feel too bad about it, his hand whipped up and snatched her ankle. Saru yelped in shock as Raditz slowly looked down at her, smirking.

"Well, color me impressed, little sister," he said and laughed a bit, "I wasn't expecting you to actually get a hit on me. I wasn't even trying to defend since I was certain my hit would connect. A mistake on my part for underestimating you. You are, after all, a Saiyan. I should have guessed that you would not take me as lightly as Kakarot did after seeing where that got him. A shame it's not going to be enough."

With a harsh flick of his wrist, there was a crack and Saru let out a wail of agony as pain shot up her shin. Raditz shoved her aside and Saru crashed into the sand beside her twin, gasping in pain.

"S-Saru!" Goku yelped through clenched teeth, trying to get closer to her but falling back in pain again, clutching his gut.

"You see now that I am not playing around!" said Raditz, looming over the two of them, "You can't hope to oppose me, this world has made you both far too soft!"

"Daddy! Auntie Saru!"

"No, Gohan, stay back!" Goku said through teeth clenched in pain.

Too late, little Gohan broke free from Bulma's hold, who had caught him when Saru had rushed in to attack, and ran straight for Goku.

"How touching," said Raditz dryly and snatched Gohan by the back of his jacket when he ran by, making the boy yelp and cry out, flailing his limbs wildly.

"Put him down!" said Saru desperately.

"What, no please this time?" Raditz laughed.

"He has nothing to do with this!" said Goku.

"He does indeed," said Raditz, "His 'daddy' and 'auntie' decided that they're too righteous for my mission, so he must be stuck with the responsibility. I told you, if you don't come with me, he does. You made your choice. And as soon as we're done with the planet I'm taking him to? We'll come back for this one."

"Stop this!" begged Saru, "You can't do this, not if we're truly family, where's your honor?"

"Honor?" Raditz let out a bark like laugh, "That's adorable. Alright, here, how about this, little Celira, I'll give you one hour to prove to me that I should take you two instead of this brat. You will do so by a head count, as in I want to see one hundred heads from the wretched species of this planet piled here on this spot to show your resolve. One hour should be plenty of time to do so."

"What?" breathed Saru, "You can't ask us to kill a hundred innocent people!"

"I just did," Raditz said as he turned, carrying the bawling Gohan with him.

"No, wait PLEASE!" wailed Goku desperately, "Leave Gohan out of this! Please!"

"I already told you it's your own fault," said Raditz, smirking down at him, "The two of you are the ones who involved him. Now remember, one hour. Or you'll never see the boy again."

He turned and rocketed off into the sky, Gohan's wild cry echoing after him, "No- NO! SAVE ME DADDY!"

"Gohan! NO! GOHAN!" Goku screamed, trying to get up but just falling back down and letting out a shaking whimper, smashing his fist into the sand.

"I wasn't strong enough," breathed Saru, staring up into the sky, pain throbbing through her leg, "I couldn't protect him."

"This isn't your fault," said Roshi as he walked forward, "Are you two okay?"

Krillin went to Goku's side and knelt beside him as Bulma helped Saru sit up.

"Do you have any sensu beans, Krillin?" Goku asked through grit teeth.

"Yeah," said Krillin, reaching into a pouch at his hip, and handed him one before coming to Saru.

Saru ate the bean and there was a snap as her leg mended, making her flinch a little, and she got to her feet, testing weight on it. Goku got up beside her and they both exchanged a look. There was no need for words between them. They both knew what they had to do.

"What are you two planning?" asked Roshi, glancing between them, recognizing their old bond no doubt.

"We're going after him," said Goku, turning.

"What?!" Krillin cried, "Goku, you can't! He'll kill you both!"

"We can't just leave Gohan!" said Saru in a wail, "We just can't! We have to go after him!"

"But you don't even know where he went," said Roshi, "He flew off so fast, I can't even sense his chi."

"Bulma, do you have the Dragon Radar on you?" asked Goku.

"Yeah," said Bulma uncertainly, "Oh that's right, Gohan had the four star ball on his hat, didn't he? I thought it was fake, but it was the real thing?"

"I wanted Gohan to have our grandpa's ball," said Goku softly, glaring at the ground.

"But you still don't stand a chance," said Krillin, "He just downed the both of you in one hit!"

"We can beat him," whispered Saru, remembering how she got a kick in, "I know we can. We have to."

"It's suicide!" Bulma pressed.

"We don't have a choice!" shouted Goku.

"Well… fine, then!" said Roshi, stepping forward, "We'll just have to go with you, right, Krillin?"

"Huh?!" Krillin flinched, "B-but- uh…" he sighed heavily, "Yeah. I guess we can't let you go alone if your both really set on going."

"No," said Saru, eyes going wide, "Master, Krillin, we could never ask you to face someone like that, you've both already been wished back to life once, and Shenron can't make the same wish come true twice!"

"Oh, shit, that's right…" mumbled Krillin.

"But you don't stand a chance with jus the two of you," said Roshi.

"So why not add a third who can actually make a difference besides you pathetic excuse for fighters?"

The voice came from above, and the familiarity of it made Saru whirl around and she yelped in surprise. Goku followed her gaze and his eyes widened and he crouched defensively.

"Piccolo…" he growled.

A man with deep emerald skin slowly lowered down to the ground and glared from Goku to Saru. He had large pointed ears framing his scowling face, a white turban upon his head with a matching white cape with large shoulder pads, with a purple jumper beneath it and brown cloth boots. Saru also knew that beneath that turban were two antennae protruding from his hairless forehead.

"Were you offering to help us Piccolo?" Saru asked, eyes wide, "That's amazing! Does this mean you've seen the error of your evil ways and are gonna be our friend now? 'Cause if you're our friend that means we can train all the time and with you being so strong it'll be so much fun!"

"Shut the hell up, Saru. You haven't changed a bit, you still act like a child. Listen to me very closely," said Piccolo firmly, "I do not intend to 'help' you in any way. However, that man, your brother from what I heard, is a threat to me as much as I hate to admit it, and unfortunately, I do not possess the means to defeat him alone. And from what I saw, neither do the two of you."

"So what do you suggest?" prompted Goku.

"We join forces temporarily to destroy him," said Piccolo simply.

"How do we know we can trust you?" asked Goku.

"You don't," snapped Piccolo, "I won't lie to you, my reasons for doing this are purely selfish. I don't give a fuck about your son. But I will not allow that bastard to take this planet. That's my job, this world belongs to me not him."

"Technically, the world doesn't belong to anyone," Saru reminded him, "Remember? We stopped you last time you tried that!" she grinned innocently.

Piccolo glared at her with harsh distain, "You are lucky I need your help or so help me I would kill you where you stand."

"That's not very nice at all, I thought you were our friend now, you can't say that kind of stuff to your friends," said Saru with the upmost seriousness.

"I'm not your friend!" Piccolo shouted.

"But you said you were!"

"I said I would join forces with you temporarily, this does not make us friends!"

"Then what does it make us?"

"You guys!" Bulma interrupted, stepping forward, "We don't have time for arguing. That guy only gave Goku and Saru and hour."

"You're serious about this?" Goku asked, looking over at Piccolo.

"I told you my reasoning," said Piccolo, "But rest assured, the moment that bastard is dead, my attacks will be for you and your insolent twin."

"Alright, then it looks like we have a deal," said Goku, "We'll fight together for now, until we save my son and defeat Raditz."

"Bulma! Can I see the Dragon Radar?" asked Saru, holding out her hand.

Bulma pulled it out of her pocket and handed it over, "Be careful. Get Gohan and come back safe."

"We will," promised Goku, "NIMBUS!"

Saru echoed his cry and within a moment her cloud rushed in, but before it could knock her off her feet, Saru leapt into the air and managed to land on it as it raced by.

"Ha!" she cried victoriously, "I'm finally getting used to this thing!"

"Hey Piccolo, think you can keep up with the Nimbus clouds?" taunted Goku as he mounted his own Nimbus.

"Please, I'd be embarrassed if I couldn't go at least twice as fast as those things," scoffed Piccolo.

Saru quickly checked the radar and saw a single dot on the move before coming to a stop several miles off on an island.

"Okay, he stopped!" she called, "Follow me!"

Her nimbus rocketed off, Goku and Piccolo following behind her. Saru clung to her cloud, ducked low and her heart racing. Gohan… he must be so scared! She couldn't bear the thought of her little nephew in the hands of that monster. Raditz… Her and Goku's older brother. Could it be possible? She didn't want to think she shared the same blood as that fiend. How could someone be so cruel? It disgusted her. The pure darkness of his heart…

She wanted nothing to do with it. But in order to save her nephew and perhaps the world, she had to face him. And fight. And possibly even hurt him. Saru loved fighting, but she only liked it for the sport. She had never enjoyed hurting anyone outside of simple competitive battle. But all her life, she had found herself in situations when she had to. Like with the Red Ribbon Army. And back when Tien Shinhan was their enemy when they were fifteen years old. And even with King Piccolo, the father of the Piccolo following her, she had loathed the fact that she and Goku had been forced to kill him in order to stop him.

It did something to her, to cause pain. It was like she could feel the pain she inflicted on others deep in her heart. It troubled her, made her stomach twist and her chest ache in agony for it. It was one thing to defeat someone in a friendly match, even if she made them draw blood or bruised them or even broken one of their bones. But fighting like she had in those situations… fighting for her life and the lives of others, being forced to hurt anyone, no matter how dark their hearts may be, it grieved her deeply.

She hated it. And Saru didn't think hate was an emotion she could experience.

"We're close!" she called over her shoulder.

"Alright. Maybe we should land here and try to sneak up on him," said Goku.

"That won't work," said Piccolo, "He has a device on his face that can somehow read life force signatures, much like how we can sense energy. He will be able to see us coming."

"Then I guess we'll just have to hit him head on," said Goku gravely, "At least he won't be expecting it."

"Goku," Saru looked back at her brother, "You're not planning on actually killing him are you?"

"Not unless we have to, Saru," said Goku, meeting her gaze, "I'm sorry, I know how much you hate this kind of fighting."

"It doesn't matter," said Saru, "Gohan's in danger. And I'll do anything I can to help protect him."

"Tch, your sap is making me sick," spat Piccolo, "The fact that you hate this type of violence so much might just make you a liability, Saru. Find your resolve. Honestly, to think I once lost to the likes of you is humiliating."

"I don't understand how there are people who enjoy this kind of violence," said Saru, "Even you make me uneasy, Piccolo, but this Raditz, he's different than you. I'm not sure there's any hope for him, his heart is too far in the darkness."

"Are you suggesting that mine isn't?" growled Piccolo.

Saru smiled at him, "Piccolo, I have always believed that you are capable of being so much better than your father."

"You're lucky I can't kill you right now," hissed Piccolo with hatred glowing in his eyes.

"There!" Goku cried, pointing down.

Saru and Piccolo followed his gaze and spotted a huge crater in the ground with a figure standing at the edge of it.

"It must be where his ship landed!" said Saru.

"Alright this is it," breathed Goku, "We're here, son."

Goku and Saru leapt off their clouds and Piccolo soared down with them. The three of them landed a few yards from Raditz himself who was staring at them in shock.

"Kakarot? Celira? What are you doing here? I told you that I would go to the island in an hour to collect the heads. And you have the green man with you?" he demanded, "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Give me back my son," demanded Goku.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Raditz began to smirk, "That's what this is? You seriously think you have a chance against me? While I will admit, I'm impressed you found me, it was foolish of you to come. Don't you get it? You can't win against me, even with the green man with you."

"Please, Raditz," Saru said, stepping forward, "Stand down. I don't want this to go any further. If we have to fight, you will get hurt, and you will lose!"

"Ha!" Raditz let out a bark like laugh, "And what makes you say that, Celira? You think because you got one lucky kick in that I'm vulnerable to the likes of you? You make me sick."

"No," said Saru, "I know you're much stronger than us. But that's just the thing," she stood tall, "Goku and I have faced enemies like you so many times before. Enemies that were so much stronger than us, enemies that we had no chance of winning against. But we won anyway. Because when you give us a challenge, I can promise you that the two of us will meet it! We always have. You won't win against us because we don't fight with just raw ambition. We fight for a cause."

"Or, really?" laughed Raditz, "Celira, you are just too cute. Listen to you and your bullshit. A cause? You think I don't have a cause?" he shook his head and folded his arms, "You're a fool. Fine. Go ahead then, attack me! I didn't plan on having to kill my little twin siblings when I got here, but the brat will have to suffice if you both insist on acting like this."

"First thing's first, where's my son?" Goku shouted.

"Oh, I suppose I can let you have one last look at him," sighed Raditz and thumbed to the crater, "He wouldn't stop crying so I threw him into my ship to shut out the noise."

Goku and Saru rushed to the edge of the crater and looked down. There in the small window of the metallic pod laying there was Gohan. He pressed against the glass, eyes wide and desperate, tears flowing down his face. Saru felt her breath catch.

"Gohan…" she breathed.

"It's okay, son!" Goku called, "Daddy's here. And Auntie Saru too. You're going to be fine."

"Lying to him will just make it worse when he sees you die," said Raditz coldly.

"Enough of this," snarled Piccolo, "I'm sick of this asshole's big mouth. Let's get this over with, Goku and Saru."

"Right," said Saru, turning, and closing her eyes for a moment, "No sense in holding back. We have to go with everything we have."

With that she sat down and pulled the tope part of her orange jumpsuit down and began to pull off the weighted navy blue tee shirt she wore beneath.

"Wh- what are you doing?!" Piccolo demanded.

Saru paused, looking at him curiously, "Taking off my weighted clothing," she said simply, "What's wrong?"

Piccolo's cheeks were a shade darker than the rest of him and he looked away, "You could give some warning next time."

"Why?"

"Ugh, Goku! Talk some sense into your sister!" Piccolo snapped.

Goku was already tossing his weighted shirt to the ground and he looked up as he pulled off one of his heavy boots, "Huh? Why? It's a good idea to get the weighted clothing off now."

"I swear I'm going to enjoy killing the both of you when this is over," snarled Piccolo as he ripped off his weighted turban and tossed it aside where it landed with a heavy thud on the ground.

Saru pulled up her jumper top again over her sports bra and then peeled off her own boots and arm bands. Goku mimicked her and Piccolo also discarded his cape and shoulder pads.

"Woo!" Saru said, "With all that off I feel light as air!" she jumped to her feet and ended up going too high. She wailed as she tried to keep her balance and managed to actually land on her feet, if not a bit awkwardly. She grinned sheepishly at Goku when he sighed at her.

"I can't believe what idiots you've become, Kakarot and Celira," said Raditz, looking between the two of them with anger boiling in his eyes, "Perhaps it's for the best I kill you. Because right now all you do is bring shame to the Saiyan race."

"As far as I'm concerned, Saru and I are human," said Goku, glaring at Raditz, "I'll give you one last chance. Give us Gohan and leave, and we promise to let you go."

Raditz let out a roar of laughter, "Ha! That's rich, brother. Just when I think you've cracked all your jokes you come out with an even better one! Amazing. I must commend you."

"Fine," said Goku, "Then you leave us no choice."

"Forgive me if I don't tremble," said Raditz with a smirk.

Saru crouched at the ready. She didn't want to do this. She really didn't. But it looked like there was no alternative. And her love for Gohan and this world far outweighed her anxiety over hurting the man threatening both of them. Even if he was her older brother. She closed her eyes one last time to prepare herself mentally.

_Give me strength_, she begged silently, and then her eyes snapped open as she, Goku, and Piccolo charged.


	3. First Sight

Things did not go well to say the least.

Saru landed heavily to the side, rolling painfully across the ground before coming to a halt, breathing heavily as she tried to get up onto all fours. She was fairly certain that she had at least ten broken bones in her body. Not including the cracked ribs. Her limbs collapsed under her and she fell, yelping in pain.

How could they have ever guessed how strong Raditz was going to be? Piccolo was in the distance, missing an arm and nearly out of energy after his last attack failed. Goku was laying on the ground at Raditz feet. She heard her twin howl in agony as Raditz slammed a boot into his chest.

"Stop," rasped Saru, trying to crawl toward him, "Enough! Enough is enough!"

But then-

"YAAH!"

Saru blinked in pure shock as a cry and an explosion reached her ears. She turned and saw Gohan erupting out of the crater, his chi signature radiating wildly off of him. He flipped and landed, tears streaming down his face, and then, with another wild cry, launched forward at Raditz, who was too shocked to even begin to try avoiding the little one's attack. Gohan slammed into Raditz' chest, shattering his armor and sending him into the ground a few yards away.

"G-Gohan?" Goku rasped, eyes wide as he propped himself shakily on one elbow.

"That was amazing!" Saru breathed, eyes wide.

"Daddy!" Gohan began to go toward Goku, but Raditz was getting to his feet.

"You- you insect!" he snarled, storming toward him, "No one has ever done that kind of damage to me! What happened?! Your power went over a thousand for three seconds and now it's at a five! Apparently you are holding Saiyan might in you, little one."

"Gohan run!" cried Saru.

But Gohan was trembling, frozen to the spot with fear.

"Power like that can be dangerous," said Raditz when he reached Gohan and lashed out an arm, backhanding the child away where he landed rolling and then still, knocked out cold.

"You bastard!" Goku snapped, trying to get up but howling in pain and falling over again.

"I have no choice," said Raditz, "Understand it does not bring me joy, Kakarot. Your son has just proved to have true Saiyan strength. A worthy warrior. So I will give him a warrior's death."

Saru was trapped in a world of her worse nightmares. Her family in danger and not being able to do anything about it, with the one way out being something she could never possibly do. Hurt innocent lives… she couldn't do it! But her twin- her nephew- this entire world she called home! It was all going to end if she didn't.

"What should I do?" she breathed, heart hammering.

But in the end… she knew there was only one thing she could do.

"Raditz! Raditz stop! I'll go!" she cried.

"S-Saru no!" Goku yelped.

Slowly, Raditz looked back at her, perking a brow, "Oh? Is that so, little sister? You see now that it's pointless, do you? You see now how pathetic you and Kakarot have become! Well…" he gave Goku one final kick as he passed and then headed toward where she lay, "It's late, Celira, considering that brat destroyed my ship. But just in an act of mercy, I'll kill you first so you don't have to watch the child die."

Saru's eyes flicked down and met her twin's across the field behind Raditz. A silent communication went between them.

"NOW!" Saru cried.

With one final push of energy, her and Goku rushed at Raditz at once. Raditz quickly back stepped Saru's punch, but landed right into Goku's clutches. Her twin wrapped his arms up and under Raditz and pinned him there, gasping in pain but holding on tightly.

"P-Piccolo!" he called, "Do that move! One more time!"

"You tricked me!" Raditz roared.

"I'm so sorry, it's not like me to lie," said Saru sincerely, looking at her older brother with large eyes, "But you left me no choice."

"This is fucking ridiculous! Get OFF me you bastard!" Raditz tried to shake Goku off, but Saru saw him wince in pain. It seemed that Gohan's attack had weakened him greatly.

"Great job, you two," chuckled Piccolo, "Never thought I'd say that… just hold him there. I can only do this one more time," he pressed his two fore fingers to his forehead and a spark of power formed there.

Saru felt her body fail and she fell over, gasping in pain. That last burst had taken everything she had left.

"S-Saru!" Goku gasped.

"I'm fine," Saru said weakly, "Don't worry about me, Goku," she smiled lightly.

"Good," Goku smiled back at her while he clung tightly to Raditz, "Listen to me, Saru, take care of Gohan."

"Wait… what?" Saru's eyes widened, "What do you mean, Goku?" she struggled to sit up, "You're not leaving- are you? Goku?"

Goku laughed weakly, "I'm sorry, Saru, I know we've always done everything together, but this is something I have to do alone. I won't let you go down with us."

It clicked. Saru felt tears threatening her eyes, "Goku, no!" she cried, "You can't!"

"Wait, you fool!" Raditz snarled, "You'll go so far to sacrifice yourself to take me down?"

"Of course, if it keeps my family and home safe," rasped Goku.

"Think about what you're doing, Kakarot!" roared Raditz, "You'll die! You won't just get a scratch or a wound, you will die along with me!"

"I know," said Goku, clinging tighter, "But it's worth it."

"No, Goku!" wailed Saru, tears going down her face, "You can't do this! Piccolo stop!" she looked desperately at the green man.

He just chuckled at her, "Sorry, Saru, no can do. It's what Goku wants, after all."

"Do it now!" Goku cried.

"No!" Saru tried to get up, but her body refused to support her.

"Special Beam Cannon!" called Piccolo, and a powerful beam of spiraling light rocketed forward at Raditz and Piccolo.

Saru watched with horror as the light pierced through both of them. IT was like in slow motion as the two bodies fell before her, blood arcing up into the air. Her heart felt it stopped beating for a moment. When both bodies finally fell in the dirt, Saru let out a wail of anguish.

"GOKU!" she screamed, pain making her vocal cords nearly rip in the cry.

"Th-this- c-can't… be…" Raditz rasped, spitting up a mouthful of blood, "Wh-why would h-he do this?"

"It's simple," Piccolo said as he strode forward and knelt beside Saru, "You may be dying for good, but Goku? He'll be back most likely within the month."

"Wh-what?!" Raditz choked, "H-how?!"

"This world has something called the Dragon Balls," said Piccolo, "So Saru can stop her crying. I'm sure you all can see that he's back within the week."

Saru looked up at him with wide eyes, "Y-yes, that's true," she said softly, and then grabbed Piccolo by his battered robes and clung to him, crying, "But still! Goku!"

Piccolo let out an exasperated sigh, but he didn't make a move to push her away.

"D-Dragon Balls?"Raditz repeated.

"Yes," said Piccolo, seemingly glad for the distraction, "There are seven of them, and when they're brought together the Eternal Dragon that rises from them can grant any single wish. Including bringing someone back from the dead."

"Heh," Raditz rasped, coughing up some more blood, and then laughed weakly, "Well, th-thank you for the information. Y-you see, it won't matter even if Kakarot is back within the week," he grinned wickedly at them with blood coated teeth, "Because this d-device on my face isn't just for reading power levels. It's a-also a communication d-device. My t-two Saiyan partners j-just heard every word. I- I can promise you that they'll will b-be coming now."

"What?" Saru stared, eyes widening, "You tricked us!"

"P-payback is a bitch, l-little sister," chuckled Raditz, "And he-here's the kicker… They're both m-much stronger than me."

"How long?"

Saru looked over and felt her heart jump. Goku was looking up, blood leaking from his lips, his whole body trembling with just the effort to hold his head up, "How long until th-they get here?"

"I'd say a year," breathed Raditz, "My only regret is that I w-won't be here to see them rip you all apart!" he laughed but it cut off into a coughing fit before he stopped all together, his head remaining still and eyes clouding over. He was dead.

"Well fuck," sighed Piccolo, getting to his feet, pulling Saru up with him.

"What do we do?" Saru breathed.

"I-it'll be okay, Saru," said Goku weakly, "We'll train. Just like we've always done. And we'll win. Just like we always do."

"Goku," Saru practically sobbed and then pushed away from Piccolo and fell down at her twin's side, gazing down at him with teary eyes, gripping his arm.

She was hardly aware of the plane touching down and her friends rushing toward them. She stared down into Goku's eyes.

"He said they were stronger than him!" she said.

"We can do it," Goku assured.

"Goku! Saru, what happened?" asked Krillin, kneeling beside Goku with her.

"I'm not going to make it this time, my friend," said Goku roughly, smiling weakly up at Krillin, "Make sure Saru is okay, alright?"

"Goku wait!" Krillin cried, eyes wide, "You can't!"

"He's right!" Saru begged, "Please, Goku!"

"See you soon," rasped Goku before his head fell to the side, and Saru felt all signs of his life force fade.

"GOKU!" she screamed and burrowed her head into his shoulder.

Then, quite suddenly, Goku's form faded beneath her and she fell into the dirt, blinking in surprise, "Uh! Where'd he go?"

"Kami," sighed Piccolo, smirking up into the sky, "That was definitely his doing."

Saru sat up, wincing slightly in pain, "None of this is fair," she pouted.

"Here, Saru," Krillin pulled out a small bean and handed it to her. Saru took it and ate it swiftly, feeling her wounds heal and her energy return. She jumped up and looked around, "Oh, Gohan!"

Bulma was carrying him. He was still motionless.

"He's out cold, but I think he'll be okay," she confirmed.

"What the hell happened?" Krillin pressed.

Piccolo was the one who gave the recap. Saru stood there, glaring at the ground. She shouldn't be here. She should be with Goku, wherever Kami took him. It didn't feel right, not having him here with her. Every single crisis, they had faced together. But this time…

This time Goku went on a journey without her.

"So we have a year…" sighed Krillin when the story was finished, Alright, well, I guess we better get started training."

"Yes," said Piccolo as he pulled on his cape and grabbed his turban, then with a cry of effort, a fresh arm suddenly exploded out of the stump that he had been reduced to by Raditz. Krillin and the others flinched but Saru laughed a bit.

"I forgot you could do that. It's like a lizard!" she said.

Piccolo glared at her, "If you compare me to a reptile again I'll take off your arm and see if you can regenerate it."

"It was a compliment," said Saru seriously.

"In any case," sighed Piccolo, "I'm taking the boy," he nodded toward Gohan.

"What?" yelped Krillin, "What could you want with Gohan?!"

"The kid has power locked up inside him," said Piccolo, "I think I can get it out in time for the battle with these new Saiyans. Give him to me and I'll train him."

"But I could train him," said Saru, frowning at Piccolo.

"You?" Piccolo snorted, "Bah. Don't make me laugh. You'd be far too soft with him. He needs real training, not coddling."

Saru pouted, "What makes you think I would do a bad job?" she asked.

"Look at you! You're the definition of soft, Saru. Besides you're biased. He's your nephew, you'd be inclined to go soft on him regardless."

"But I beat you in a fight, Piccolo."

Piccolo glared at her, "That was five years ago."

"We could fight again. Oh! And this time it would just be for fun!" Saru's eyes got wide, "That be so great!"

Piccolo ran a hand down his face, "Just give me the kid. If you want to come with, Saru, fine. It's not like I can stop you. But I'm getting full say on how he's trained, understand?"

Saru frowned at him, "Why are you so pushy, Piccolo? Aren't we friends now?"

"NO we're NOT friends!"

Saru flinched at his yell, "Alright, alright!" as she went over to Bulma and picked up Gohan she grinned at her, "Everything should be okay," she said and she believed it. Her heart still ached from Goku's death, but he would be back soon, and then they could train to be strong enough to face these new Saiyans. Maybe these ones would be different and they could talk to them instead of fight, "Make sure to wish Goku back."

"You can count on us, Saru," said Krillin, "But are you sure about letting Piccolo train Gohan?"

Saru frowned and looked down at her sleeping nephew, "It's the perfect chance, actually," she said with a smile, "Chichi would never let us train him, so taking him away and blaming it on Piccolo is the perfect excuse!"

"Sometimes I think your naïve innocent personality is just an act," grumbled Piccolo, "Did I really just hear you right? You're taking advantage of this and blaming it all on me because you can?"

"Sure," Saru looked back at him, "What are friends for, Piccolo?"

"I'm not your friend!"

"Tell Goku we took Gohan to go train him. I'll come check Kame House in about a week to see if you've wished him back," said Saru, grinning back at Krillin and the others.

"Be careful, Saru," said Roshi, glancing at Piccolo, "He may be on our side now, but don't trust him."

"It'll be fine," assured Saru cheerfully, "Besides, I don't think Piccolo could beat me anyway."

"I'm looking forward to killing you," growled Piccolo, but Saru ignored him.

"Krillin, you better find Yamcha and the others too," she said, "We might need everyone for this."

"Right, we'll find them," said Krillin, nodding, "Good luck, Saru."

"Okay, let's go, Piccolo!" Saru grinned over at the green man.

He was scowling at her.

"You were crying five minutes ago and now you're all peachy… something tells me this is going to be the most annoying experience of my life…" he mumbled.

"Why would you say that?" asked Saru, "You're the one who wanted to go and train Gohan together."

"No, I wanted to train him alone- you know what? I give up. Let's just go."

"Good luck, Saru!" Bulma called after her.

Saru nodded and waved as she looked up and called out, "Nimbus!"

Her wild cloud came ripping into view and tearing toward her. It knocked her off her feet, but she managed to hang on to Gohan as it flew her away from her friends. Piccolo flew after her, catching up quickly.

"Gohan isn't the only one who needs training," said Piccolo, "I'll have to teach you how to properly fly instead of using that spastic cloud."

"That's not very nice, you should apologize to Nimbus," said Saru seriously, looking at Piccolo with wide eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me…" grumbled Piccolo, "No, I'm not saying sorry to your stupid cloud! Now listen, I know of a wasteland not too far from here. And I have a plan. The kid is too reliant on his family. He's been pampered his whole life. So the first step of his training is going to be to teach him how to survive on his own."

Saru perked a brow, "That seems like a good idea," she agreed with a nod, "Goku and I were on our own since we were, uh…" she counted on her hands for a second, "Ten! I think. But even before that, Grandpa taught us all that we needed to know to live on our own. When we were Gohan's age, we were hunting and fishing and scaring off monsters!" she grinned big, then sighed and looked down at her nephew, "But Chichi has kept Gohan so sheltered, he doesn't know any of that stuff."

"Exactly," said Piccolo, "I'm actually surprised you agree with me. Maybe you won't be as soft as I thought. My plan is to leave him out here for six months."

"Wait, leave him?" Saru blinked, "On his own?"

"Yes," said Piccolo, "It will be the simplest way to teach him how to survive. After six months, we'll come collect him and then train him how to properly fight."

"That seems a little harsh, I mean, Gohan doesn't know anything about fighting, he could get hurt," said Saru in a small voice.

"Don't be stupid, you saw what he did to your older brother," snapped Piccolo, "If push comes to shove, his power will save him. It's another reason to do this. Maybe he can learn to control it while he's out here."

Saru sighed, "I suppose you're right," she smiled softly, "I know Gohan is strong. He just has to find it inside him."

"Ugh. Please cut the sappy shit now, Saru," muttered Piccolo.

"Huh? But we're up in the sky, there's no trees up here to get sap from."

"… I hope I possess the patience to get through this without trying to kill you," sighed Piccolo, closing his eyes. Then he looked over at her, "There's one more part. I think it would be best to tell Gohan that you died with Goku."

"Huh?! But why?! I didn't die!" Saru cried.

Piccolo's eye twitched, "I know that, you idiot, but listen to me. If he knows you're alive, he will cling to the idea that you will come and help him whenever he's in trouble out in the wasteland. So if we let him believe that you are gone and that he's truly on his own, he will learn to survive on his own properly. Then, when he sees you after six months, you can have that whole sappy reunion and shit."

"Why do you keep mentioning tree sap?"

"… We're doing this. You don't get a say. It will make him stronger in the end," said Piccolo with a deep breath.

"I suppose it kind of makes sense," admitted Saru, "But I hate lying to him."

"You don't have to, I will," said Piccolo, "All you have to do is stay out of sight. This is important, Saru! You can't let him see you until we return to train him after six months, agreed?"

"Yeah okay, fine," said Saru.

"Are you sure? Or should I knock you out until I'm done explaining things to the kid so you're not tempted to interfere?" Piccolo asked sharply.

"I won't do anything, I promise!" said Saru.

"Tch," Piccolo nodded, satisfied, "I suppose that is one trait about you that I can rely on, Saru. You keep your word."

"Well lying is bad."

"… For the sake of my own sanity I'm just going to agree with you to shut you up."

"So you have changed, then, Piccolo!"

"For fuck's sake, just give me the kid and go hide somewhere."

Saru pecked a kiss on Gohan's forehead and then carefully handed his sleeping form to Piccolo.

"I'll be on this bluff," she pointed and went over to it, having to bail off of her Nimbus as usual and landed roughly before crawling to the edge and peering over as Piccolo landed in the clearing below beside a small pond.

She kept watch as Piccolo dropped Gohan into the water. She flinched a bit at this, but kept still. _I promised_, she thought. Even a promise to Piccolo was a promise still. Gohan burst out of the water, spotted Piccolo, and started crying and running around in the water.

"DADDY! AUNTIE SARU! HELP! MISTER PICCOLO HAS ME!" she heard the boy yelling.

Saru gripped the edge of the cliff as Piccolo snapped something at Gohan, making him stop and look at him. Piccolo spoke some more, but he was too far away for Saru to hear clearly. And then Gohan started crying again.

"NO! THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! MY DADDY AND AUNTIE SARU CAN'T BE DEAD! YOU'RE LYING!"

Saru felt the strongest urge to rush down and comfort Gohan, but she kept still. _I promised! _She thought again harshly.

Piccolo yelled at Gohan again, making him silence. Piccolo spoke again to Gohan, and Gohan replied in softer tones, but still looked distraught. Suddenly, Piccolo reached down and snatched Gohan by his hair. Saru tensed. What was Piccolo doing?! Then, Piccolo threw Gohan across the valley straight at a bluff.

"Gohan!" Saur breathed, tensing to rush in to help, but suddenly, Gohan started glowing, and in a huge explosion, energy erupted from his hands. Saru clung to the bluff as the whole world shook. Such power! How was Gohan even capable of that?! She looked up only when the shaking stopped and stared in awe. There was a huge rut in the ground that stretched as far as the horizon. The mountain had been completely disintegrated.

"Whoa…" Saru rasped.

Piccolo stepped toward Gohan, standing over him and spoke some more, gesturing to the rut. After a moment, Piccolo started to fly off. Gohan yelped and called after him, but Piccolo kept going, never looking back, leaving Gohan behind to sit and cry. Saru scrambled back on the bluff and Piccolo joined her.

"I told you," he said.

"I didn't think there was that much stored up inside him," said Saru, "That was amazing!"

Piccolo frowned, "I never thought I'd be helping train the son of one of my mortal enemies. He might one day use that power to defeat me."

"Maybe he won't have to!" said Saru cheerfully, "Come on, Piccolo, with us working together, I think we might be able to forget about our past trouble."

"Don't count on it," snapped Piccolo, "This world is still mine to rule. Unfortunately I need all the help I can get to make sure these new Saiyans don't take it from me. Which means we need to go train you how to fly. Once you have that down, we're going to train nonstop until the six months are up. Gohan isn't the only one that needs to get stronger."

"Alright!" said Saru with a big grin, "That sounds like fun! It'll be nice to spar with you on a friendly level, Piccolo!"

"I swear, you use the 'friend' word one more time and you're going to be the first one I kill when this is over," Piccolo growled.

"Come on, Piccolo, let's get going!" said Saru, rushing to the edge of the bluff and leaping off it and calling, "Nimbus!"

Her cloud rushed in and caught her and Piccolo flew after her with a heavy sigh.

And so six months passed with Piccolo and Saru training relentlessly together. Saru learned how to properly fly, and with the constant training with Piccolo, she knew her body was a lot stronger than it had been when Raditz arrived. They had received news that Goku didn't want to be wished back until the Saiyans arrived so that he could train in Other World with a man called King Kai. Saru was sad he wasn't coming back straight away, but comforted that he was becoming stronger too. Once the six months passed, Piccolo and Saru went and collected Gohan, who had grown much stronger since Saru last saw him.

He now knew how to hunt and defend himself rather well, and his personality reminded her more of how Goku was when they were little. His tail was gone, which Piccolo explained he removed it one night when Gohan was sleeping. However, Saru noticed that this happened the night the moon was destroyed too, when Piccolo had gone off to check on Gohan, refusing to let Saru come with in case she showed herself. But Saru didn't dwell on it long.

On that day that Piccolo went off on his own, Saru had gone exploring herself and found an interesting ruin in the desert that she and Piccolo were training in. Inside were several scrolls of ancient martial arts techniques. One in particular caught her interest, labeled 'The Bond'. If done correctly, it used unique energy work to fuse two souls together. It had both pros and cons, being that when the fused souls fought as one that their power would be increased incredibly, but they could feel one another's pain and also if one died, so would the other. Saru memorized it and saved the scroll, and even mentioned it to Piccolo. He had yelled at her for even considering bonding together, even if it made them stronger, that the disadvantages were too great to risk.

When reunited, Gohan had broken down into tears when he saw Saru was alive. Saru held him tightly for a while, explaining why she let Piccolo lie to him, but now that they were together again, they could train to fight the two Saiyans that were on their way.

So, the six months following, Piccolo and Saru trained Gohan together with their new abilities. He improved fast, and Saru could see the signs of that power inside him. But even when the day that the two Saiyans arrived came, she knew he was nowhere near controlling it fully. That day, they had been training as usual. At this point, Saru could tell there was a significant difference in Piccolo. He wasn't quite as harsh as he had been, and Saru found that she sincerely considered him her friend now. She knew Gohan did too. The two of them had specifically cooked up a huge meal for him one time to surprise him, only to be disappointed when he told them he only needed water to survive. But there had still been a smile when he saw what they did, if only a brief one.

"Better," Piccolo said when Gohan managed to dodge an attack from him, "I think you finally learned how to dodge properly."

"Now for blocking!" Saru leapt at Gohan's back, trying to catch him off guard.

Gohan yelped and twisted just in time to block her kick. Saru grinned widely and backed off, beaming, "That was great, Gohan! You've improved a lot!"

Gohan smiled. He was in a deep purple jumper like Piccolo's, with the cloth brown shoes. He also had a white cloth tied around his forehead. Saru was in her turtle hermit outfit with the weighted clothing on beneath. She placed her hands on her hips, "What do you think, Piccolo? Hasn't Gohan gotten stronger?"

"Stronger, yes, but strong enough is debatable," said Piccolo, crossing his arms.

"Well maybe we won't even have to fight!" said Saru, beaming, "Maybe these ones will be nicer than Raditz and we can talk it out with them."

Piccolo sighed and glanced at Saru. It was a far-cry from the annoyed scowl he used to give her when she acted this way, "As much as I wish that was possible, Saru, somehow I doubt it. Be ready for anything, and don't hold back."

Saru gave him a thumbs up, "Of course!"

"Mister Piccolo," Gohan looked up at him, "Do you think we're ready?"

Piccolo opened his mouth to reply, but cut off, looking over across the sky. Saru felt it too. She stared into the distance eyes wide.

"Well, we better hope we are," Piccolo finally responded, "They're early."

That power! Saru had never felt such strength before. It was incredible! How were they supposed to hold that off, she thought desperately. She had thought Raditz was strong but this?! And the darkness in it. She felt her heart begin to hammer. A part of her was terrified. Not for herself, but those around her, her family and even Piccolo. But she also felt herself dreading actually fighting them. She could tell now that they were here for blood, and she resented fighting for blood herself. And yet there was a small part of her that was excited about the challenge. If only they weren't here to hurt and destroy.

Saru thought again of that weird technique she had learned. Could she use that for anything, she wondered? Maybe if things got too crazy, Piccolo would 'bond' with her so they could defeat the enemy. Maybe.

"They're heading this way," said Gohan, eyes wide.

"They most likely have the same device as Raditz," said Piccolo, "They're probably going after the strongest power source they can read."

"I hope the others wished Goku back by now," said Saru, "Even if he doesn't get back right away, at least the Dragon Balls will turn to stone and they won't be able to find them for a year."

"I doubt that will stop them from destroying this place looking for them," said Piccolo gravely.

"Am I late?"

"Krillin!" Saru gasped as her friend landed beside her. She scooped him up into a hug, "I've missed you so much!"

"AUCK!" Krillin yelped, "S-Saru! R-ribs!"

"OH!" Saru dropped him instantly where he fell in a heap on the ground, "I'm so sorry, Krillin I keep forgetting."

"S'okay," laughed Krillin, getting to his feet, "You've gotten stronger!"

"So have you," Saru grinned at him.

"So, they're on their way here, then?" Krillin asked, his face turning grave.

"Yeah," said Piccolo, "Hope you've improved enough to be an asset and not a liability."

"Gee thanks, Piccolo…" Krillin muttered.

Saru looked up into the sky, "There," she breathed.

Slowly, two figures drifted down and landed before them. One was a huge bulky bald man with a thin mustache framing his grinning mouth. He wore the same big shoulder armor that Raditz had on when he came. Saru felt extremely small with him there. He had to be at least seven feet tall, and five feet wide with all that ripped muscle. Saru was so overwhelmed by just how huge the guy was, it took her a second to notice the second Saiyan.

Saru blinked at him, her look of determination melting into one of curiosity. He was short, looking even more dwarfed when standing beside his friend. He had black hair that stood straight up that added nearly a foot to his height. He too had the shoulder pad armor, but he wore a blue jumpsuit beneath it. He was smirking lightly, staring at each of them in turn. Finally, his eyes met Saru's and his smirk lengthened.

Saru felt a weird chill go down her spine.

At that point, three more figures joined them, landing along Saru and her friends' line up. Saru beamed at each of them, "Yamcha! And Tien and Chiaotzu!"

"It's been a while, Saru," Yamcha said, glancing at her with a smirk, "Heard you've been training with mister green over there."

"Watch it, jackass," snapped Piccolo.

"You've improved," Tien noted, smiling toward her, "That's good. Where's Goku?"

"We just wished him back before I came here," said Krillin, "It shouldn't be long."

"Good," Saru said, "With my brother here, there's no way we'll lose."

"Well, well," chuckled the smaller one, "I'm guessing you're Celira."

Saru looked over to see he was looking at her. She stood up taller, "My name is Saru," she said, "But I don't know your names."

"Our names are hardly important," said the bigger one with a laugh, "Since you'll be dead soon!"

"Now, now, Nappa," said the smaller one, still smirking at Saru, "Where are you manners? We can give them this small courtesy. I am Vegeta, and I'm the Prince of all Saiyans."

"A Prince, huh?" scoffed Piccolo, "Funny. You look a little short to be royalty."

"Piccolo, that wasn't very nice," said Saru, looking at Piccolo with a furrowed brow.

"You're kidding, right?" Yamcha asked dryly, looking at her, "These guys are here to destroy the entire planet, and you're worried about being nice to them?"

Saru looked toward Vegeta and Nappa again and bowed, pressing her hands together, "It's very nice to meet you, Vegeta and Nappa!" she looked up again and smiled, "I was hoping we could try and talk this out before resorting to violence."

Vegeta and Nappa both looked completely shocked.

"Is she serious?" Nappa asked, glancing at Vegeta.

Vegeta blinked a few times, "'Talk things out'?" he repeated, "Girl, do you even realize who you're dealing with?"

"You just said you're Vegeta and he's Nappa," said Saru, frowning.

"Saru, maybe you should just stop talking," sighed Piccolo.

"But why? If we can talk this out then it'll be so much easier!" said Saru insistently.

"Easier?" Vegeta stepped forward, laughing, "I knew that you had forgotten your Saiyan heritage, Celira, but becoming a coward wasn't something I assumed happened as well."

Saru faced him, face twisted a bit in mild anger, "I am not a coward!" she said, "But I do not wish to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Hurt _me_?" Vegeta laughed again, "You know what, Nappa?" he glanced back at his companion, "These scrubs aren't even worth our time. Do you still have some Saiybamen?"

"I think I do, just about seven," Nappa pulled out a satchel and poured some seeds into his palm, "How perfect."

Nappa knelt and buried each seed before pouring liquid on them from a small vial. The earth where they had been planted cracked and bulged, and one by one, tiny strange green men sprouted from the earth, each with enlarged skulls and red eyes, clawed hands and feet, and sharp fangs.

"What the hell are those?" Krillin cried.

"Tada," Nappa said gleefully, "One for each of you."

"Why don't we make this into a little game?" asked Vegeta, smirking, "We'll go one at a time. One of yours versus one of ours."

"Are you nuts? We aren't playing your sick games!" shouted Krillin.

"No," said Piccolo softly, "We'll do it."

"Wh-what? But Piccolo-" Krillin began.

"We need to buy time for Goku to get here," said Piccolo, glancing at Krillin, "This may just be the perfect thing."

"Besides," said Saru, perking up, "These things don't seem like true people. And with it being one on one, it's more like the tournament," she smiled a bit. That was much more her style of fighting. She could handle this. She wouldn't feel any guilt about hurting these strange monsters. They seemed incapable of remorse and only possessed animalistic behavior.

"I'll go first."

Tien stepped forward, all three eyes gleaming with determination.

Vegeta and Nappa laughed.

"Good sports," Vegeta said softly, "You," he looked at the Saiybaman closest to him, "You're first."

The Saiybaman smiled gleefully and went to face Tien. As the two faced off, however, Saru met Vegeta's gaze again. He glared at her with sharp distain, but there was a wicked smirk on his lips. Saru frowned lightly. What made him like this, she wondered.

This Vegeta… Prince of all Saiyans…

Who was he really?

Saru really, _really_ wanted to know. And she wasn't even sure as to why.


	4. Casualties

The battle began. Tien and the Saiybaman were quickly locked in a fight that for a while appeared evenly matched, but Saru could see that this Tien was getting the upper hand. She watched as he dodged attacks and landed them as if he was merely dancing. Tien managed to put some distance between himself and the beast when he held his hands to his face and screamed, "SOLAR FLARE!"

A blinding light erupted, making the Saiybaman screech and clutch its eyes. Tien rushed forward and landed several blows. However when the green being recovered, its strange head split in two, spitting out a strange liquid toward Tien. He quickly twisted away to dodge it, and he and the others watched in horror as where the juice had landed burned a rut into the ground.

"Ugh, you mean it can spit acid too?" sighed Krillin.

"Be careful Tien," Saru said cheerfully.

"I think you're the only person I know that can be smiling contently while saying words like that…" Yamcha said, glancing at Saru.

Saru frowned at him, "Really? No one else does that?"

"No, Saru, no one else is a complete moron like you are," growled Piccolo.

"Oh you can't mean that, Piccolo!" said Saru, pouting at him, "We're friends now! You shouldn't be so mean."

"The fight's still happening, in case you didn't notice," said Piccolo.

"Oh!" Saru quickly looked back at the fight, "I'm sorry, I meant to be paying attention I swear!"

Tien didn't seem to mind her scattered attention however. He managed to grab the Saiybaman in his arms and go airborne. For a moment the two were struggling up in the air before Tien managed to gain the upper hand and send the monster sailing toward the ground. The impact shook the earth slightly, And when the dust cleared, Saru saw the Saiybaman twitching within a great crater in the earth.

"That was great, Tien!" she cheered, skipping a little and beaming.

The group around her cheered happily as well, especially Chiaotzu. Saru grinned over at Vegeta and Nappa.

"You see that we are strong. So maybe now you'll listen to reason instead of coming to needless blows with us," she said happily.

Vegeta scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous, girl. Nappa, you must have gotten a bad batch."

"No, I know these ones are good!" said Nappa, looking more peeved than his smaller comrade about the loss of one of their soldiers, "Each one of these has the power level of twelve hundred, the same as…" he trailed off and got a slightly shocked look on his face.

Vegeta glanced at him with a smirk, "Yes, Nappa?" he prompted.

"Raditz…" Nappa finished, bowing his head slightly.

Saru gasped a bit at the sound of that. Was that true? Did each of these little monsters have the same capabilities as her dark older brother? If that was the case, they all had improved greatly for them to defeat the creatures so easily! She felt her heart lift just a bit. But at the same time, she did notice that Vegeta did not at all seem annoyed or worried about how simply one of his minions were defeated. In fact, he continued to smirk as he looked over at Nappa again.

"Now you see why we're not wasting our wish to bring him back," he said.

"But I thought Raditz was your friend," said Saru, slightly saddened with how easily Vegeta could just talk about an old comrade like that.

"Friend?" laughed Vegeta, "Girl, you don't know who you're speaking to. Raditz was a weakling and more of a liability than an asset. A disgrace to the Saiyan race, really. Much like those he shared blood with," he narrowed his eyes at her, "You, Celira, and your pathetic twin, Kakarot, will also share the same fate as your dear older brother."

"I really don't think you should be doing this," said Saru seriously, "But maybe words won't make you understand. Let me show you why you should just talk to us instead," she stepped forward and smiled broadly at him, "I will go next against one of your monster thingies."

The Saiybaman that Tien had defeated a slowly starting to get up, shaking madly and spitting up blood. It was obvious it was in no condition to fight. Saru frowned at it pitifully.

"No, you rest now. It wouldn't be fair if I fought you. You already lost your round," she said.

"I wouldn't expect you to fight that one," growled Vegeta, aiming a hand at it and firing a blast from his palm that consumed the injured creature in a ball of light, dissolving it into dust within a heartbeat.

Saru stared in horror. How could Vegeta do something like that to one of his own subordinates?!

"V-Vegeta why?" wailed Nappa, eyes wide, seeming just as shocked as Saru and her friends were.

"It had already been defeated, as Celira said," Vegeta snapped, crossing his arms, "A useless ally is no ally at all," he glared at the remaining Saiybamen, "Which can show what the rest of you can expect if you fail me!"

"I see…" breathed Saru, clenching her fists, "So you're even worse than Raditz was. The darkness in your heart can't be cleansed away, can it? At least not easily. You leave me no choice, I suppose…" she looked out at the creatures, "Which one will I be facing?" she asked, her voice no longer light and cheerful. There was a coldness to it.

"Whoa, Saru's getting serious," she heard Yamcha mutter behind her.

"She only ever gets like this when she is up against someone she knows she can't reason with," said Tien, "Like when she first fought me, and when she faced off against Piccolo."

"You," Vegeta kicked one of the Saiybamen forward carelessly, "Show Celira a lesson in manners. She should be taught how to better speak to her superiors and the Prince of her people."

The Saiybaman stalked forward, starting to giggle madly. Saru stared at it emotionlessly and held out her hand, an orb of power beginning to charge there. It was green in color, and not very large. The power emitting from it was just enough to tickle the senses. The Saiybaman laughed and crossed its arms, seemingly thinking such a weak attack was not worth even dodging. Nappa laughed as well, crossing his huge arms over his barrel of a chest.

"What kind of attack it that? I think you might be able to kill a rat with that, if it was already injured!" he crowed.

Vegeta was also smirking, but slowly, Saru looked up and locked eyes with him. His smirk flicked away suddenly, his brow furrowing.

It happened in less than a blink.

Saru vanished from where she was standing, and reappeared to the right of the Saiybaman, mere two feet from it, and the orb in her hand suddenly burst bigger, the power from it so immense it made its form jagged and pulsate wildly as if it were barely being contained. Saru looked down at the Saiybaman as it looked over at her in pure shock and fear.

"Forgive me," Saru breathed, and released the attack.

It ripped out of her palm like a canon, dissolving the creature into dust, not even giving it time to scream, and the blast rocketed all the way to the horizon. The world shook underfoot wildly until the light finally faded, leaving a massive rut in the ground, not unlike the one Gohan had left when Piccolo chucked him at the mountain a year ago. Saru lowered her hand and took a deep cleansing breath before looking over at Vegeta.

He was gaping at her in pure shock. Saru bowed her head to him.

"I apologize I had to kill one of your pets. But you left me no choice. I had to show you a taste of what you will be facing if you continue this path," she said, looking back up, eyes full of sorrow, "I don't wish to hurt you."

Vegeta stared in shock for a heartbeat longer, then he let out a bark like laugh. His laughter continued for a while, making Saru sigh heavily, and when he finally recovered, he smirked wickedly at her.

"I will admit, you surprised me with how strong you are, Celira. I was under the impression you barely managed to defeat Raditz when he was here, but you've improved quite a bit haven't you? But I think you should know that it's not enough. You've no clue what you're dealing with," he crossed his arms.

Saru shook her head sadly, "I see you won't listen to reason…" she turned and went back to the others, all of which were staring at her in as much shock as Vegeta had shown.

"I see," Piccolo said, slowly smirking at Saru, "You've been holding back in our training, haven't you?"

Saru blinked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Piccolo, I didn't want to hurt you on accident."

"Heh," Piccolo shook his head, "Well. Maybe we do stand a chance."

*.*.*

Vegeta was not to be swayed. He glared at the Saiyan girl, Celira with distain. That power she had shown… it had been immense, that was needless to say, and she didn't even look the slightest bit tired out from that output. Vegeta was no fool. He knew she had way more power in her than just that. He had come to this world believing that he would find Celira and Kakarot, the latter having been wished back by these infamous Dragon Balls, and be able to destroy them with hardly any effort. He didn't think he'd even have to send Nappa in. The Saiybamen should have been plenty enough.

However these Earthlings seemed to have been training the entire time it had taken for Vegeta and Nappa to arrive, and what was more, Celira had improved far beyond Vegeta's expectations.

It looked like he may have to send in Nappa after all. Unfortunate. He really had looked forward to degrading these beings as much as possible. In any case, it seemed that the Earthlings were still willing to play his game. Celira may be more powerful than he expected, but that did not mean that the Saiybamen couldn't defeat at least one of their numbers. It would be a good laugh to see the look on Celira's face if she had to watch one of her friends die right in front of her.

Excellent payback with the disrespect she blatantly showed him. For her disgraceful behavior as a Saiyan. Yet even now as he smirked over at her, Celira just met his gaze steadily, her large blue eyes glistening in the sunlight. Vegeta felt pure rage lick up his spine from the expression he read in her face.

It was one of pity.

*.*.*

"I'll go next."

Saru looked to her right as Krillin stepped forward, his face set with determination. She felt a slight panic hit her. Yes, the Saiybaman was easy for her to destroy, but she wasn't completely certain how much her old friend had improved since she last saw him. She could definitely sense that he was stronger, but was it enough?

"No," Yamcha stepped up, looking at Krillin with a grin, "That's alright, Krillin, I got this one."

"Huh? Yamcha, you don't have to," said Krillin, "Honest, I can handle it."

"Don't worry about it," said Yamcha, smirking confidently, "Besides, you've already been wished back with the Dragon Balls once, remember? We can't do it again. So I'll take this one."

"Yamcha…" Krillin began, but Yamcha was already walking forward to face off against the next Saiybaman.

Saru frowned thoughtfully. She remembered when she first met Yamcha. She and her brother had been traveling with Bulma on their first hunt for the Dragon Balls. Oolong had been with them too. She smiled a little, fondly remembering how Yamcha originally tried to attack them for the Dragon Balls they had already collected, but she and Goku had surprised him by their own skills in martial arts. He hounded them for ages, until finally the threat that was Emperor Pilaf forced them to officially work together. Yamcha had been a good friend of theirs ever since, him and Puar, who Saru guessed was back a Kame House with the other non-fighters.

"You can go next," Vegeta growled at the closest Saiybaman, who nodded a bit warily and stepped forward to meet its opponent. It seemed that both Vegeta's lack of mercy and Saru's surprising strength had the remaining Saiybamen on edge. But as soon as this one stepped forward, it seemed to gain confidence. It grinned toothily at Yamcha, crouching.

"Let's go!" Yamcha cried, and suddenly, the two leapt into the air and began to brawl.

Saru watched with her brows raised as the two flipped and flailed through the air, trading blows at surprising speed. Yamcha had improved so much! She began to smile. What was she worried about? Of course her friends could handle these strange creatures. She had to have more faith in them.

"Gohan, you can't see them."

Saru blinked and looked over to see Piccolo addressing her nephew. Gohan was looking up at the sky, his eyes wandering and clouded in confusion. Saru realized that Piccolo was right. Yamcha and Saiybaman were moving too fast for the boy's eyes to follow.

"Everyone is watching the battle but you, Gohan," Piccolo snapped.

Gohan flinched at the scolding, and Saru sighed heavily.

"You don't have to be so mean, Piccolo," she said, shooting the green man a pout before kneeling beside Gohan, "Listen, Gohan, you can't look where you think you'll find them. You must listen and look for where you know they'll be. If you are one step ahead, even at their speed your eyes will see them."

Gohan looked up at the sky with a look of determination. After a moment, she saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"There, see?" said Saru cheerfully, turning to see Yamcha blocking every blow with practiced skill, but only landing half of what he was dishing out.

"Wow," said Gohan softly, his eyes twitching quickly to keep up with the battle, "Yeah, I see them!"

Saru beamed and ruffled his hair, then glanced at Piccolo, "See sometimes a gentle nudge is all he needs."

"And sometimes being too soft with him just gets nowhere," growled Piccolo, but he offered her a small smile.

Saru turned to watch as the Saiybaman finally fell from the sky. Yamcha, victorious, landed beside its body and placed his hands on his hips, grinning proudly.

"That was great, Yamcha," said Saru, beaming, as the others cheered around her. However her grin faltered when she saw the Saiybaman twitch slightly.

"That wasn't bad at all!" Yamcha cried, looking toward Vegeta and Nappa, "I'll take all of those little freaks on! Come on!"

"No, Yamcha, don't get cocky!" Tien cried.

"Relax!" Yamcha laughed, "I could take on all of those things with my hands tied!"

The Saiybaman at Yamcha's feet suddenly launched upwards, latching its arms and legs around Yamcha's torso, pinning his arms to his sides. The little Saiybaman seemed to grin at him before there was a blinding flash of light, and an explosion enveloped them both.

"Yamcha!" Saru screamed, taking a step forward.

Slowly, the dust settled, and Saru let out a wail at the sight of Yamcha laying unmoving in a small crater in the ground, wounds gaping all over his body, his clothing burnt to a crisp, smoke raising slowly up from his form, the smell of cooked flesh burning her nose.

"Yamcha, no!" Krillin was the one to run forward and fall to his knees at Yamcha's side. Saru could not find the means to move her legs.

Yamcha… how could this happen? She knew it before the words even left Krillin's mouth. Yamcha's power signature had vanished in the explosion. Saru had had friends die before. Krillin had been killed by one of King Piccolo's spawn when she was still a kid, and Master Roshi and Chiaotzu had been murdered by King Piccolo himself. So the pain boiling through her blood right now was all too familiar. She clenched her fists, and tears began to flood her eyes as she shut them tight in a vain attempt to keep them from streaming down her cheeks.

"Kamakazi," Tien muttered at her side, "He stood no chance…"

Saru felt a hand fall on her shoulder and looked over to see Piccolo. He gave her a hard look.

"I understand he was your friend, but stay focused, Saru," he said.

Saru tried to calm the shaking in her body, looking back toward Krillin.

"No… he's dead…" Krillin breathed, "Yamcha you proud fool… It should have been me… he ran out there because I had already been wished back… it should have been me!" Krillin leapt to his feet and whirled, eyes alight with an anguished fire, "You bastards! I'll kill all of you!" he raised his hands above his head, forming a huge energy orb in each palm, "Just like Yamcha was going to do!"

With a cry of grief and fury, Krillin launched the attack forward. Saru saw Vegeta and Nappa both blink in mild surprise just before the blast engulfed them along with all the remaining Saiybamen. The ground shook momentarily, and Saru held out one hand to shelter Gohan, and used the other to shield her eyes from the blinding light. Finally, there was only dust remaining. Chiaotzu and Gohan both let out cries of victory, seemingly believing that Krillin had wiped out the Saiyans as well as the Saiybamen. By the way Krillin let out a wild burst of laughter, he thought so too.

However Saru, Piccolo, and Tien all remained silent as the dust slowly cleared, revealing both murderous men standing without even a single scratch on their armor.

"Wh-what?" breathed Krillin, his arms falling in defeat, "B-but I put everything I had into that shot…"

Saru knew it too. That had been an incredibly strong attack, especially for Krillin. He had improved greatly. It seemed that he had reduced all the Saiybamen to dust. However, the Saiyans were of a whole new level of power that none of them had ever seen. It was much greater than Saru could have ever imagined, for them to withstand an attack like that without getting even a bit scuffed.

"Aw, look Vegeta, he killed all the Saiybamen," sighed Nappa, placing his hands on his hips, smirking.

"Well then," said Vegeta, turning and striding over to a nearby rock and sitting down on it, "I suppose that means you're up, Nappa."

Nappa grinned wickedly, "So I can play with all of them right? No limitations?"

"Just be careful not to destroy the planet," said Vegeta carelessly, closing his eyes, "After all, we came here for the Dragon Balls, demolishing them would just make this entire trip a waste of time. Oh. But leave killing Celira for me," he smirked and opened his eyes, locking his gaze with Saru's, "I do believe she insulted me earlier."

Saru blinked, "I did? I didn't mean to," she frowned in thought, trying to remember when she said anything mean to Vegeta.

"Saru, now isn't the time," Piccolo snapped.

"Then everyone else is fair game!" crowed Nappa, stepping forward, "Which one of you pathetic scraps wants to die first?"

"Yamcha was our friend," Tien growled, beginning to stalk forward, "I refuse to let you get away with this!"

"Tien, wait," Saru placed a hand on his shoulder, "If we attack him one on one, it would just be suicide. You saw how he withstood Krillin's attack. We need to take him on together."

Tien glanced at her, "Alright. After all, the games are over now aren't they with their pets gone."

"That's right," said Saru, looking over at Nappa, "No more games," she crouched, "I wanted to talk things out. But you've taken things too far. Yamcha's blood is on your hands. And I can't just forgive that! I'm sorry about what has to be done."

"There she goes again, Vegeta," laughed Nappa.

"Indeed, her insolence knows no bounds," said Vegeta with a small laugh.

"Alright, Saru, I assume you have a plan," said Tien.

"Ummm…" Saru grinned sheepishly, "Not really, I kind of leaving the battle strategies to Piccolo. Got any ideas, Piccolo?" she smiled back at the green man.

Piccolo sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face, "I swear, I have no idea why I haven't just lost my mind after spending a year with you."

"Why would you go and do that?" asked Saru with a frown.

"Tell you what, Saru, get that big bastard in a hold and keep him there for five minutes," said Piccolo.

"Why would I-?" Saru began but then it clicked and she scowled at him, "Piccolo that wasn't a nice joke at all!"

"Who said I was joking?"

"Are you all going to just stand there mumbling to each other all day or are we going to fight?" asked Nappa, "I'm a little pent up from the trip here, and I thought I would be considerate and let you bitches make the first move, but if you're going to keep me waiting I may just end you all in one blow!"

Saru looked at Nappa, finding her composure again, and she grinned widely at him, "Idea!" she called, and jumped up into the air before spinning and zooming down toward Nappa with her leg out, her body like a missile, her heel aimed for his gleaming bald head.

"Pah!" Nappa scoffed, raising an arm to block her.

Right as he did so, Saru called out, "Opening!"

Below, she saw Tien rush forward, making to jab out at Nappa's exposed chest while he was distracted. However, Saru was surprised when Nappa still managed to block her attack as Tien stumbled past the behemoth of a man after seemingly making his strike. Saru flipped and landed lightly, but to her shock she saw Nappa had the arm that hadn't blocked her down striking motion. Tien began to scream in pain and Saru's wide horrified eyes went down to spot Tien's forearm twitching at Nappa's feet, no longer attached to the rest of his body.

"TIEN!" Chiaotzu screamed, and rushed passed Saru so fast she didn't even get the chance to shout for the little one to stop.

With incredible speed, Chiaotzu latched himself to Nappa's back, clinging to his armor, eyes shut tight in effort.

"Chiaotzu!" Saru called, stepped forward to pry him off.

However, Nappa launched up into the air, twisting and snarling, "Get OFF me you little insect!" However, the Saiyan's arms were too thick and burly to reach little Chiaotzu. Slowly, Chiaotzu's small body began to glow. Saru felt his energy level spike, but it was wild and unstable.

"Oh, no…" she breathed.

"CHIAOTZU NO!" screamed Tien, clutching his stump of an arm and gazing up in horror, "Stop, what are you doing?!"

_I have to do this_, Chiaotzu's determined voice rang in Saru's head, and she knew he was using his incredible psychic powers to communicate with all of them, _It's the only way, and you know it! _

"Chiaotzu, no, STOP!" bellowed Tien, "We already wished you back once! We can't do it again!"

_I know_, Chiaotzu's voice responded softly, _But I have to do this. For Earth! And all my friends! And especially you, Tien. Goodbye!_

"CHIAOTZU!" wailed Tien.

Saru raised her arms just in time to shield her eyes from the blinding light of the explosion. Her heart felt like it was splintering away. First Yamcha… now Chiaotzu… and with the latter… there was no wishing him back. He was dead for keeps now. The light faded and all that was left was a huge cloud of smoke in the sky. Saru laid her hand on Tien's shoulder.

"Why?" Tien breathed in a cracking voice.

"He did it to protect us," whispered Saru, "To protect you, Tien."

"He was my best friend," Tien let out a shaking sob, slamming his remaining fist into the ground.

Saru didn't know what else to say. There were no words that could comfort Tien right now.

"Auntie Saru!" Gohan cried.

Saru blinked and looked up to where her nephew was pointing and felt a sickening jolt in the center of her being.

There, in the clearing cloud of dust, floated Nappa, his armor heavily damaged and a few cuts on his skin, but otherwise no worse for wear.

"Not good," she hissed.

"No," Tien rasped, "No, no, NO! You CAN'T be alive! Chiaotzu can't have sacrificed himself for nothing! NO!"

"This guy is indestructible!" wailed Krillin.

Saru crouched, ready to launch up into the air. Two deaths were two too many. She would not allow this to continue.

"No," growled Tien, venom dripping from his voice as he grabbed her arm with his remaining hand, "He's mine."

"Tien, don't be a fool," Saru said gently, "You're wounded. Let us take it from here."

"Saru, you and I both know I can't just sit by," Tien growled, meeting her gaze, "I will not allow Chiaotzu's death to be in vain. I can't! Stay out of this, Saru."

"I can't let another death be added to this day, Tien!" Saru said, her voice growing louder, "I can't watch him kill you. I won't!"

"Saru, please," Tien murmured, his voice cracking slightly, "I have to do this."

Saru stared desperately at her friend, opening her mouth to argue. However, Nappa landed mere feet from them, smirking wickedly, "Well you had better decide before I decide for you."

Tien let out a roar of hatred and threw himself forward before Saru could make a move. Nappa merely seemed to be humoring him, doing nothing but dodge Tien's every hit. They brawled across the landscape, destroying any boulder or spire in their path. Saru began to rush forward to assist, but Piccolo caught her when she passed him by her arm.

"Let him fight," he said.

"I can't just not help!" cried Saru.

"There are two kinds of battles, Saru," said Piccolo harshly, "Battles for one's life, and battles for one's honor. If you go and interrupt him now, you would only hurt him rather than help."

"But…" Saru breathed, looking out toward the fight.

Nappa was laughing wildly as Tien tried time and time again to hit him.

"This is getting a little boring, bub," he said, "Are you even trying?"

Tien let out a cry of frustration, throwing himself forward, delivering blow after blow but never landing one. Finally Nappa twisted and slammed his fist across Tien's face, making him sail away from him, landing in a heap a few yards away. But Tien got to his feet again, ready to keep fighting. Now Nappa was fighting back, kneeing Tien in the gut, slamming an elbow in his chest, slamming fists into every available bit of the man's body. It was obvious Tien was not going to come out of this battle if this kept up.

"Piccolo PLEASE!" Saru begged, "We have to help him or he's going to die!"

Piccolo seemed like he was going to argue with her for a moment, but then sighed and glanced at Krillin, "Ready?"

"Right!" said Krillin.

"Gohan, stay here and be ready for when I tell you," said Piccolo.

"O-okay mister Piccolo," said Gohan nervously.

Saru, Piccolo, and Krillin all launched forward at Nappa as his back was turned, too busy laughing as he sent Tien into the ground below him to even hear them coming. Saru was taking up the rear, Krillin in the lead and Piccolo between them. Just as Saru approached, Krillin landed a blow on Nappa's head, making him soar downward to Piccolo, who spun and slammed a fist into the burly man's side, making him fly toward Saru. She twisted and threw out a kick, making Nappa go sailing down toward Gohan.

"NOW!" Piccolo cried, "HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, KID!"

Gohan stared up at the Saiyan coming at him, shaking with fear. Saru willed him to do as she said. She had seen proof of the suppressed power within him, knew he was capable of doing serious damage, but it appeared that wasn't enough. Gohan cried out in terror and ran, hiding behind a bit of rock. Nappa twisted and recovered in time to land on his feet where Gohan had been. He turned to the child and laughed.

"What's wrong kid, I don't scare you that much, do I?"

"Gohan, run!" Krillin shouted.

But Gohan appeared to be paralyzed with fear as Nappa approached him. However just as Nappa raised a hand to strike, he was hit by a huge blast of power that sent him flying before it consumed him. Shocked, Saru looked for the source of the blast and spotted Tien, gasping for breath and holding up his good arm.

"That… was… for Chiaotzu," Tien muttered before he fell face first to the ground, and his power level went to nothing.

"Tien!" Saru cried.

"Focus," Piccolo snapped, "Don't take your eye off the enemy."

Saru looked as the smoke from the blast cleared and saw that this one seemed to actually have done some damage. Nappa's armor was broken at the shoulders and there were several small wounds on his skin. He wiped dirt from his face and smirked at them, "Pointless," he said.

Krillin was shaking again, and Saru couldn't tell if it was fear or anger this time.

"You won't keep this up when Goku gets here!" he called.

"What's a Goku?" asked Nappa, laughing, "Is he a secret weapon or something?"

"Nappa."

Saru had completely forgotten about Vegeta. She turned with the others to see him sitting on a boulder with his arms crossed and eyes closed as if he were taking a nap.

"I do believe they're talking about Kakarot."

Nappa let out a bark like laugh, "Kakarot? You think that one more defective Saiyan is going to make a difference in this battle?"

"Shut up!" Saru snapped, clenching her fists, "And- and I'm not apologizing for being rude! You don't understand," she glared at Nappa with harsh distain, "When Goku and I fight together, there's nothing and no one we can't defeat! You will be sorry for all the death you have caused today. I won't let you get away with this! I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

"Tough talk for someone who can hardly land a punch," scoffed Nappa, "I don't think you understand how outclassed you are here, girly."

"I don't care what the odds are against me," said Saru, "I will defeat you, not because I'm better or that I'm stronger. But because I have to in order to protect what I care about."

"A pity that just wanting to win to protect your pathetic friends and family will never be enough," said Vegeta, smirking up at her, "But I am curious about your claim. Is it true that you fight better with your weakling twin at your side?"

"I told you that we can overcome any challenge together," said Saru firmly.

"Very well then," said Vegeta, closing his eyes again, his smirk remaining there like a stain, "Nappa. Stand down. We will wait for Kakarot."

"Wait, what?" Nappa blinked, looking over at Vegeta with a perked brow.

"We will give them three hours for Kakarot to arrive. If he hasn't by then, we'll just kill them all," said Vegeta simply.

"But… but Vegeta, why?" asked Nappa, looking extremely put out.

"Because I am curious to see if Celira can back up her claim," said Vegeta.

"But what am I supposed to do for three hours?" Nappa whined.

"Oh just go and occupy yourself!" snapped Vegeta, shooting him a glare, then looking away again, "I don't care how."

Nappa sighed heavily, "Alright fine… I guess I'll go test out the military on this world," he smirked and turned on his heel taking off into the sky.

"Hey, wait!" Krillin cried.

"Shut up!" Piccolo snapped at him, "This is the only chance we'll get to wait for Goku. Just take it, you idiot."

Slowly, the three of them landed on the ground again. Vegeta had closed his eyes again and could have been taking a nap for all Saru knew. She looked over to see Gohan approaching them, head bowed in shame.

"I… I'm sorry," he murmured, "I just got so scared. I couldn't…"

"Gohan, if you're not going to help, I suggest you go home to your mother," Piccolo snarled.

"Piccolo!" Saru gasped and then crouched besides Gohan, placing her hands on his shoulders, "Don't listen to him, Gohan. It's alright to be scared, this is your first real battle. But we need you to be strong, alright?" she smiled, "My brave little orthopedist."

Gohan smiled lightly back at her, "I don't think I want to be an orthopedist anymore, Auntie Saru."

"Alright," said Saru, ruffling his hair, "We'll just stick with my brave Gohan until you decide what you want to be okay?"

"Tch," Piccolo crossed his arms and looked away, "This is why I wanted to train him by myself."

"There's nothing wrong with being gentle sometimes, Piccolo," said Saru, standing up again and clapping a hand on the green man's shoulder, "I've seen your soft side a few times, so I know you know what I'm talking about!"

"Oh shut up," snapped Piccolo, "And get your hands off me…"

"Huh, I really never thought I'd see you two be… friendly…" said Krillin, frowning at the two of them.

"Piccolo is actually a really nice man!" said Saru cheerfully.

"I said shut up!" Piccolo barked.

Saru let out a tiny laugh, but it quickly faded as she glanced at the remains of Yamcha and Tien, and the lack of remains of Chiaotzu. Three of her friends… dead… She looked over at where Vegeta sat on his rock, eyes closed as if meditating, arms folded, one leg crossed over the other. Her previous curiosity of who he was had gone. All she wanted to know now was why? Why was he like this? What could he have possibly endured to make him so cruel?

And despite all her hoping, Saru didn't think there was a way passed the wall of darkness that veiled this man. He wasn't going to listen to her reason, he wasn't going to take her seriously.

At least, not until she got serious herself.

_Goku_, Saru thought desperately, _Please hurry… Because I don't want to have to do what I had to when we faced King Piccolo. You know I've always used me abilities for defending those I love, not hurting. But if you don't get here in time… I'll have no choice but to get serious. Brother, you know how much that scares me…_

"So just get here fast, Goku…" Saru breathed aloud, closing her eyes, and praying that she wouldn't have to use her full strength, no matter how dark her opponent may seem.


	5. Planting the Bond

In the far reaches of the galaxy, far from the postponed battle on Earth, was a small space craft heading toward a desolate world. Within this craft were six beings, mostly resembling humans, however each carried distinct features setting them apart from that particular race. It was also obvious that none of them there shared the same race at all. One toward the back, with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, was a green skinned man with antennas protruding from his forehead and large pointed ears framing his stern looking face. He wore loose fitting pants, cloth shoes, and only a vest over a bare torso with a short cape hanging from it, red in color. Across from him saw a pale skinned man with a main of white hair and pale lavender colored eyes. His canines were slightly lengthened on the tops and bottoms of his rows of teeth, and he stood almost uniform straight. He wore a skin tight practical looking suit with several buckles and pockets strewn across his chest and waist.

In the next row was a strange being with deep purple skin and a mane of white hair, large black eyes, but an otherwise handsome face. His build was short and stocky. He wore a battle vest that encased his barrel chest and thick bracers that had blades adorned to them. These same blades lined his knee high combat ready boots. His pants were made of a thick armor like material, but had compartments all about them. Across from him was a large humanoid, towering near eight feet tall and it looked rather ludicrous with how he had to bend his head to keep it from hitting the ceiling, even while sitting. He had a fray of ash blond hair and dark red eyes. He wore battle armor that nearly made him look like someone slapped an organism head on a robot's body, deep gray in color with steam gently wafting from the large shoulders. The front row had a small being with coal black skin, huge bug like yellow eyes, two slits for nostrils, and thin wiry limbs and a spiked tail. This creature wore a small suit of armor resembling the one with purple skin. And finally, at the controls of the vessel, was a being with a handsome near human face. The only thing that set him apart from that species were the strange lines that traveled from the edges of his eyes to his chin line, as if they were tattooed there. He had shoulder-length hair that was deep blue in color, nearly matching the color of his eyes. He was well built, and wore standard armor like the being with purple skin and bug like creature beside him. He probably stood a little over six feet tall when standing upright. He glanced back at the men in the ship.

"Looks like we're close," he informed them.

"Rilan, this doesn't seem like the best of your ideas," said the green-skinned man at the back, narrowing his eyes up at the pilot.

"That bastard has taken out nearly all of our forces, Sol," said Rilan gravely, staring out at the approaching planet, "He's landed on this world, and we won't get a second chance. He's almost always on that damned mothership of his. What happens when he targets your world next, huh?"

Sol let out a small grunt, "Namek is far from his normal regions that he terrorizes."

"That does not mean it's safe," said the being with white hair in a near monotone voice.

Sol glanced over at him, "Eagla, I appreciate your concern, but I still believe tackling him head on is foolish."

"It's our only chance we have," snarled the large man in the robotic suit, "Isn't that right, Rilan?"

"Listen to Wes," said the one with purple skin, "He may be a bit dull sometimes, but here he actually has some sense. This is our best shot."

"You're letting your grudges blind you, Lecron," grumbled Sol, "Think about this. He took out nearly the entire force of our squads. We gathered the strongest warriors from all over this universe to form that league to protect our galaxies, and us six… are the only ones left."

"But the Captain is still with us," pressed Lercron, "And so long as Captain Rilan leads us, that bastard hasn't beaten us yet."

Rilan glanced back at the men, "You all put too much faith in me. It isn't just about my ability to lead. All of you are required for this mission. We don't stand a chance unless all of us work together."

"Close," hissed the bug-like thing in the seat beside Rilan.

Rilan glanced at him, "How many life forms detected, Sequan?"

"Two million, but their numbers are shrinking at an incredible rate," said the tiny thing in a fast high pitched voice that seemed extremely jittery and clicked oddly with each syllable, "Down to one point three million… still dropping…"

"He's wiping out the population," breathed Sol.

"Just like with what he did to my world," Rilan muttered, clenching his fists hard over the steering wheel, "We have to hurry."

Within his mind, Rilan was seething.

_Mark my words, Frieza, you tyrant bastard, you will regret allowing a single Tygrian to live. It will be my kind who destroys you permanently. I promise you this._

*.*.*

"Time's up."

Saru looked up sharply, her heart skipping a beat as Vegeta stood from the boulder he had been sitting on. No… had three hours really passed already? Nappa had not yet returned from wherever he ran off to. Saru prayed that he had no killed too many people. She had to hold on to the fact that they could all be revived with the Dragon Balls. But it still didn't make her feel any better knowing that innocent lives could be being crushed by that brute.

"Auntie Saru…" Gohan breathed.

Saru smiled gently down at him, "Everything will be okay, Gohan," she promised, "Your father will be here soon. And until then, I promise I won't let anyone else die, okay?"

Gohan sniffled, "They're so strong…"

"So are you, Gohan," assured Saru, "You just have to find the will to release that strength."

"So it seems Kakarot was too cowardly to show up after all," drawled Vegeta as he began walking toward them.

Saru felt a spark of anger hit her. She turned, facing the Prince with her eyes ablaze, "You know nothing of my brother if you call him cowardly."

"I saw you comforting the little one there," said Vegeta, crossing his arms, "Surely it's because you know he's not coming. And what you considered your last hope is gone."

Saru sighed, frowning sadly at Vegeta, "It saddens me that you think Goku is the only one that can stand up to you."

"Ha!" Vegeta let out a bark of a laugh, "Oh that's a good one. Tell me, Celira, do you think you stand a chance against me? You could barely scratch Nappa."

"I told you I did not wish to hurt you," said Saru, "But when you started killing my friends, I'm afraid it's too late to go back."

Vegeta snorted, "If it is true that you've been holding back all this time, then it wasn't me or even Nappa that really killed your friends. It was you."

Saru's eyes widened with horror, "Wh-what do you mean?" she gasped.

"Think about it, idiot girl," said Vegeta, smirking darkly at her, "If you could have defeated us from the start by using your full abilities, none of this carnage would have ever happened. Their blood is on your hands."

Saru felt her world shake. Was he right? Because she was scared to use her full potential, and held back because of this, did Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Tien all die because of her selfish actions?

"Don't listen to him," snapped Piccolo, grabbing her shoulder, "I understand how you operate, Saru, and you know the backlash your power can have. It was right of you to be cautious."

Saru glanced at him, not sure if she believed his words.

Yes, Piccolo shared his father's memories, and he of all people other than Goku knew what happened when Saru was forced to use her full abilities. Now that she knew the truth of her heritage, she had a feeling it had something to do with the Saiyan destructiveness in her. She also saw this power every time Gohan let his hidden power loose as well. It was wild and very difficult to control. She could easily end up hurting her friends as well as her enemy. Not to mention… Saru lost herself when she got like that. And she hated that feeling of pure destruction. Of pure rage and the actual… excitement at the hurt and pain of others… It wasn't her. Sometimes when Saru got like that… she was scared she wouldn't be able to return to normal.

Goku was lucky. He never had that problem. The only time Saru saw him get even close to that was when Krillin died when they were kids. But even then, it was nothing compared to how far gone Saru got. Goku was also the only person that could pull her from that state. And he wasn't here yet.

However, even without giving in to her full power, Saru was quite the capable fighter. It was just dangerous to get caught up in a battle using so much of her skills, so close to the lip of the bowl, so to speak, because as soon as even one drop spilled over…

"Hey, don't start without me, Vegeta!"

Nappa landed beside Vegeta, smirking widely. For some odd reason, his armor was gone and he was just in black shorts.

"Nappa what happened to your clothes?" Vegeta asked dryly.

"I sunk their battleships, Vegeta," said Nappa proudly, looking back at the smaller Saiyan, "Their military force really was pathetic."

"That didn't answer my quest- you know what? Never mind, I don't care," Vegeta sighed, "I suppose since you're here, you can clean up the rest. Kakarot isn't showing, and I'd rather not dirty up my armor with their blood."

"That's enough!" Saru cried, stepping forward, shaking a little.

"Saru…" Krillin breathed.

Saru ignored him, glaring at Vegeta, "I can't stand it anymore! You talk down to us like we're all dirt beneath your boots! You're wrong! We are living beings just like you! You have no right to treat us like that! I don't care if you are a Prince, or even if you might be stronger than me, but I will not stand by and just let you sit and watch anymore! If you want to prove that you're so much better, you'll fight me!"

Vegeta perked a brow at her, looking a bit surprised.

"Wow, Saru, I've never heard you actually demand someone fight you before," said Krillin.

Saru didn't reply. She held Vegeta's gaze, her fists clenched. She didn't want to fight Vegeta. She meant what she said about not wanting to hurt him. However, she knew there might be a way to keep him from hurting her friends without having resort to unleashing her full strength on him. But in order to do it, she had to get Vegeta to fight her. Just for a bit.

Vegeta finally let out a laugh and glanced at Nappa, "Alright then, Nappa, you take the Namekian and the two little ones. Celira seems to want me all to herself."

"What did you call me?" Piccolo asked.

Vegeta looked over at him, "A Namekian. Do you not know your own heritage? As soon as I saw you, I figured that was how there was a such thing as Dragon Balls on this world. Namekians are known for their sorcery. I would assume you were the one that created them. Nappa, make sure to leave him alive so he can show us where the Dragon Balls are when we're done here."

"Sure thing," said Nappa with a broad grin, "But the other two are fair game?"

"Kill them, if it will shut you up for a while," said Vegeta carelessly.

Saru felt her heart skip a beat and she looked back at Piccolo.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "We can hold him off until Goku arrives. You take care of the short little bastard over there."

"Better watch your mouth, Namekian," said Vegeta, smirking, "It won't take me long to deal with Celira, and even though we need you alive, it does not mean we need all of your body in working order."

"Enough!" said Saru, whirling to face Vegeta, "You will not threaten my friends anymore. Your fight is with me!"

With that, she charged, rushing in and powering up at the same time. She saw Vegeta blink in surprise as the little screen over his eyes flickered wildly. Saru swiped a hard left hook right at his face, and he barely managed to pull back his head in time. But Saru did not even skip a beat before her knee was thrusting upward. Vegeta did not dodge this one. It nailed him in the gut and he gasped in pain and staggered backward, eyes wide with shock.

Nappa had already engaged the others, and they were several yard away, working desperately together to try and topple the giant. But Saru couldn't spare them much attention. She crouched, ready for Vegeta's counter attack.

Vegeta looked up at her, a new hatred in his eyes, "So," he spat, "You weren't completely bluffing. I must say, it's been a very long time since I've ran into someone who can actually land a hit on me. However don't get too excited. You caught me off guard, and I underestimated you. It will not happen again."

Saru met his gaze, her eyes wide, "You seem upset. I didn't mean for it to hurt that much, I was still holding back."

Vegeta snorted, "Cocky bitch, aren't you?" he crowed, "Holding back? Don't make me laugh. You continue to insult me, Celira. You are not prepared for the might of a Saiyan Prince!"

"You may be right, I've never faced one before," said Saru sincerely, frowning a little in thought.

"Tch," Vegeta scowled again, "I can't tell if your little innocent act is sarcasm or legitimate, but either way it's pissing me off!" he rushed forward, and Saru let out a yelp at his sheer speed.

He was right, she was not prepared.

Her body must have received about three hits within the same heartbeat. An elbow to the rips, a fist to the face, and a kick to the side that sent her flying into one of the nearby spires. She slammed into it so hard, the rock collapsed around her body and buried her in a heap. Pain laced around her body as it was pummeled with the debris. Finally, it came to a halt, and she lay buried in the boulders for a moment, wondering if she could move. He was so strong! It seemed he hadn't just been boasting empty either.

Saru had to hurry. She couldn't stand up to this kind of strength without going full out. She had to get it done before he pushed her into a corner she couldn't back out of without forcing her way out. And like Saru had said… she didn't want to hurt Vegeta. So she had to use her last resort to avoid that.

The Bond.

It was a long shot. In fact, she had been planning on using it on Piccolo as a last resort so that they could use its power to help them defeat the Saiyans. But maybe, like Piccolo said, the cons outweighed the pros… Could Saru use that to her advantage? The feeling of one another's pain…

The dying if the other did…

Yes, it was a long shot…

Saru burst out of the rocks, panting and wiping blood from her mouth. Vegeta was smirking a few yards away.

"Well, Celira?" he laughed, "Still want to fight me? Do you still think you can win?"

Saru sighed, glancing at her arm when a sharp jolt of pain from it demanded her attention. It looked like it was broken. Blood ran down it in warm streams. She winced slightly. It was like King Piccolo all over again. If Goku was here, maybe she could beat Vegeta, like they did with King Piccolo.

But Goku wasn't here yet.

Stalling for time, Saru thought.

"Yes, I think I can win," Saru said, grinning at Vegeta.

Vegeta snorted, "You're quite stubborn but at least you have Saiyan pride," he smirked, "Even if it is incredibly misplaced. Come on then, Celira. And this time don't hold back."

Saru forced her arm to cooperate with her, tucking it back with the other at her side. It screamed in pain and protest, but she bit her cheek, fighting through it and glaring out at Vegeta. She only had one shot to do this.

"Kaaa… Meeee…." She breathed, an a small orb of power began to form in her hands, "Haaa…Meee…!"

Vegeta perked a brow, crouching slightly, the screen over his eye flickering wildly again.

"HAAA!" Saru screamed and thrust her arms forward.

A huge wave of white blue power rocketed out of her hands at Vegeta. However, as soon as the blast left her palms, Saru jumped up into the air. As she expected, Vegeta had leapt up as well, looking down at the blast as it rushed beneath him harmlessly. He laughed.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he crowed, looking toward where Saru had been and blinking in surprise when he didn't see her there.

He looked up just in time to receive a boot to the face.

Vegeta was slammed into the ground, so hard that it created a crater around him. Saru landed on top of him, pinning his arms down with her thighs, straddling him across the chest and beginning to make elaborate motions with her hands. It had taken a while to memorize the formation. They had to be exactly symmetrical. No room for mistakes. She only had a single shot at this. Vegeta was still dazed from the kick, too dazed to even try and push her off of him. Finally, Saru spread both hands' fingers wide and they glowed with a red light. She put the palm of her right hand against the back of her left, and then pressed the joined hands to Vegeta's forehead.

The Prince let out a wail of pain and a strange pattern appeared across his skin, like a tattoo of tangled crescent moons, black in color. Saru also felt an incredibly intense burning sensation assault her hands where the contact with Vegeta was, and that fiery pain shot up her arms and into her chest. She felt her heartbeat stammer a few times and she saw the same strange markings run up her hands and to her elbows. Finally, her heartbeat settled, and the burning stopped. The markings faded away to nothing.

Saru desperately tried to catch her breath and ended up falling off of Vegeta before he even found the strength to shove her off. She laid there in the dirt for a moment, dazed. And she felt it, a strange feeling in the back of her mind, like a burning rage, a darkness that was not her own. Suddenly, a wave of alien emotions rushed her. Anger, rage, arrogance, pride, and then, one of the most suppressed, yet most powerful one… pain…

"What… did you do…?"

Hands suddenly closed around Saru's throat and she yelped as she was lifted off the ground and into the air. She grabbed onto one of the wrists of the hands gripping her with her good arm, and opened her eyes to see Vegeta glaring up at her with hatred.

"What is this?" he demanded, "It was like- like I could- you- what was that? Answer me!"

Saru struggled to free herself, but the planting process of the Bond, as she had read in the scroll, had left her incredibly drained.

"I said tell me!" Vegeta screamed and slammed a fist into her gut.

As soon as the pain hit her, though, Vegeta dropped her, gasping in shock and pain. Saru landed crumpled to the ground, gasping for air and looking up to see Vegeta bent double, eyes wide.

"What the hell…" he breathed, "What the hell was that… Celira!" he bellowed, facing her, "How- how did you do that?!"

Saru sat up, clutching her own gut, "I did what I had to," she said, "It's a technique I discovered buried in the desert. I'm sorry, but every wound you place on me, you will feel it just as I do."

"What?" growled Vegeta, "That's impossible!"

"I can demonstrate it you wish," said Saru, and tried to move her broken arm.

Vegeta hissed in pain and clutched his left arm, eyes widening again.

"Don't worry," said Saru, "It goes both ways. I can feel your pain too, Vegeta. So that makes it fair."

Vegeta whirled to face her. His face looked practically wild with anger, "You bitch!" he cried, "You think this will save you? I don't care how much it hurts, I'll just kill you outright!"

"But if you do that, you'll die too," said Saru, looking up at him innocently.

Vegeta gaped at her, "What…?" he breathed.

"It's called the Bond," said Saru, "A special technique that fuses two souls together. It makes it to where two fighters can fight as one and accomplish a huge amount of power they would not normally attain by simply fighting side by side. However, it makes it to where they can feel one another's pain and feelings, and if one dies, so does the other."

Vegeta clenched his fists. His body began to shake. Saru felt a terrible rage boiling against the back of her head. It was a terrible feeling and she found herself trying to shrink away from it. How could one person contain so much hatred?

"Why?" he hissed.

"Because it was the only way I could stop you without hurting you," said Saru simply.

"You would go through the process of placing this- this curse on me- just so you didn't have to hurt me?" Vegeta bellowed, "You expect me to believe that?! You cowardly little bitch!" he stormed over to her and grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her up to his face, "Remove it. NOW!"

Saru frowned at him, "Remove it?" she blinked and pondered for a moment, "Oooh, I didn't think of that…"

"I said now!" Vegeta shouted.

"Well, the scroll didn't say anything about removing it," said Saru, frowning at him, "I'm pretty sure it said something about it being a permanent deal."

"You're lying," snarled Vegeta, shaking her slightly from his hold on her shirt, "You just don't want me to kill you! Tell me how to remove it!"

Saru sighed, shaking her head, "I'm not a very good liar, Vegeta, and I'm telling the truth. There really isn't a way to take it off," she pouted at him, "It kind of hurts my feelings that you would think I would just do this to keep you from killing me. I did it for your safety, not mine."

Vegeta threw her to the ground, but seemed to instantly regret it when he yelped and clutched his arm, the same arm Saru had just landed on, the one he had broken. He glared down at her, his black eyes lit like flames.

"Do you know who you are dealing with, Celira? Do you realize what kind of wrath you have just brought down upon your head?! You will remove it, or I will kill every last one of these insufferable insects you call friends right in front of you, rip them to shreds!" he shouted.

Saru got to her feet, narrowing her eyes at him, "You won't," she said simply.

"Won't I?" Vegeta barked, "Do you care to test me, Celira? Do you really? Maybe you won't take me seriously until your little nephew is screaming for death because he's in so much pain!"

Saru clenched her fists.

Vegeta let out a short laugh, looking over at her with a sinister smirk, "Oh, so you can get angry. So what now, Celira? Do you want to hurt me now?"

Saru closed her eyes slowly, and her hands relaxed.

"I feel sorry for you," she said softly.

A spike of rage hit the back of her mind, nearly making Saru stagger. His emotions of hatred were so raw and strong, it astounded her. She opened her eyes, looking at him as he straightened and his aura began to swell around him.

"What did you say?" he growled, taking a step toward her.

However, before another word could be said, a huge blast and scream exploded to their right. Saru gasped and whirled to see Nappa standing before an incredibly torn up looking Piccolo, who was shielding Gohan with his body. As Saru watched, Piccolo coughed up a mouthful of purple blood, and fell to his knees, then his front in a heap. Saru felt horror flood her heart as she felt his power level drop to nearly nothing.

"Piccolo!" she screamed, running forward.

Nappa turned as her approach, smirking and throwing out a fist at her as soon as she went to pass him. Saru ducked the blow without taking a pause and reached Piccolo's side, leaving Nappa standing stunned behind her.

"Piccolo…" Saru breathed, turning him over, "Piccolo! Can you hear me?"

"Mister Piccolo!" Gohan cried, coming to Saru's side, his young eyes wide with horror as he looked down at his fallen mentor.

Piccolo coughed, wincing in pain, "I'm sorry…"

"You're going to be fine!" Saru pressed, "You can regenerate, right? Right? Piccolo!"

"I can hear you, idiot…" Piccolo rasped, "And… I'm afraid I can only regenerate piece of me that are no longer attached to my main body. This… this is too much…"

"Don't say that!" Gohan cried.

"Listen to me," Piccolo looked at each of them in turn, "I… wanted to thank you both…"

"Huh?" Gohan whispered.

"You… showed me… friendship… as cheesy as that sounds," Piccolo chuckled but it cut off into a hacking fit.

"Piccolo!" Saru and Gohan both yelled in unison.

Piccolo calmed and smiled up at them, "Gohan… I know you have it in you to be strong. You just have to… let it out. And Saru…"

Saru felt her gut twist as he looked up at her, "Yes?" she murmured.

"Stop holding back," Piccolo growled, "You can't let them win before Goku… shows up…"

"But…" Saru clenched her fists, "Piccolo I…"

"Stop that," breathed Piccolo, "No more… excuses… defend this world, Saru, like you did… from me…"

And his head fell to the side, and Saru felt the life force flee his body.

"No!" Gohan wailed in anguish, burying his head in Piccolo's chest, "Mister Piccolo! Don't go! Please!"

Saru closed her eyes tightly, hearing the hysterics of her nephew boldly assaulting her ears. It was her fault. If she had tried her hardest from the start… maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe Yamcha, and Tien, and Chiaotzu, and Piccolo! Maybe they would all still be…

"No more…" Saru whispered.

Gohan sniffled and looked up, his eyes wide, "Auntie Saru?"

"Gohan, stay back," Saru said, looking at him with a stern gaze.

"But…" Gohan began.

"Please, Gohan," Saru smiled at him, "I'm going to make sure that man never hurts anyone again."

Gohan stared at her for a moment before nodding, "O-okay…"

Saru turned to see Vegeta was at Nappa's side. They seemed to be in an argument.

"It doesn't make sense!" cried Nappa, "How can she be linked to you?"

"I told you!" Vegeta snapped, "I don't fucking know! She just did it! Now don't you dare lay a hand on her! Understood?"

"What are we supposed to do about her then?" Nappa asked.

Vegeta looked over to see Saru was listening. She felt his anger sharpen in their mental link. He narrowed his eyes.

"The boy. Get the boy, Nappa," Vegeta growled.

Saru jumped to her feet, glaring viciously at them, "You're not touching Gohan!" she shouted, and rushed forward.

Her knee was burrowing into Nappa's gut before anyone could move. Nappa bent double, eyes bugging out, not even able to cry out in pain. And before Saru understood what was going on, it was happening again.

This had only occurred a select few times in her life. Whenever she got angry enough, whenever she was backed into a corner, with no alternative, she could not hold back like she normally did. The thing was, it part of how Saru survived by refusing to hurt others. She felt like if she did, her being, who she was, would fall apart and nothing would be left but this monster that was now pummeling Nappa into a pulp, not even being held back from the pain in her broken arm.

Her movements were all a blur to her. She was aware of dodging his movements with shocking ease, aware of her fists getting damp with his blood. Somewhere, she could hear Vegeta yelling. In the back of her mind she could feel his astonishment. Somehow, his feelings felt more real to her at the time.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, it ended.

Saru saw Nappa fly off into the distance and crash into a towering bluff, crumbling it into pebbles. Saru was breathing heavily, slouched over, blood dripping slowly off her hands. Blood that was not her own. Saru looked down at them and saw her fingers begin to shake.

"Oh no…" she breathed, a horror rising inside her, "I… I didn't mean to get so carried away."

She hated this, hated it when she caused such raw violence. Fighting was one thing, but this…

"Nappa!" Vegeta hollered toward where the big Saiyan fell.

His tone was not one of concern. It was of anger. He was furious that Saru was able to do that to his subordinate.

Nappa emerged from the rubble, his face twisted in rage. He was bloodied, but not broken. Saru stared. How strong was this man? Nothing had even stood up to Saru when she got that way, but then again… Goku had been with her each time.

"I can't…" Saru shook her head, closing her eyes, "I don't want to do this."

"What kind of Saiyan are you?!" spat Nappa, stomping toward her, "What kind of Saiyan hates destruction? What kind of Saiyan backs down from a fight?! Are you scared?! IS THAT IT?!"

He reached her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. Saru clenched her fists, but could not bring herself to hit him again.

"Nappa!" Vegeta snapped, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Nappa didn't seem to be listening to him. He held back a fist, rage clear in his eyes, "You stupid bitch! Fight!"

"MASENKO!"

A huge blast slammed into Nappa's side and he landed ten feet away. Saru blinked in surprise and looked over to see Gohan with his hands still raised up. He slowly lowered them and panted. Saru stared.

"Wow Gohan," she breathed.

"Are you okay… Auntie Saru?" Gohan rasped.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Saru, looking back over just as Nappa was getting up, "Uh oh."

"Wow, kid that actually stung a little!" Nappa sneered, "My turn."

Nappa opened his maw wide and a light was building there, aimed right at Gohan.

"Gohan, no!" Saru yelled, making to leap in front of the blast.

Suddenly, there were arms wrapped around her. Saru yelped as she was carried back a good few paces away from Vegeta.

"It's okay Saru. You don't have to fight anymore. I'm here."

Saru felt her breath catch and she whirled to face the owner of the voice.

"GOKU!"

Saru squealed and threw her arms around her twin. He looked just as she remembered him. Orange jumper like her own, weighted clothing beneath, the wild black hair. But then she gasped and looked around, "Where's Gohan?!"

And then she spotted him on Goku's Nimbus a few feet away, staring in shock.

"Daddy?" he breathed.

"Hi Gohan, you've gotten strong!" Goku beamed.

"Daddy!" Gohan cried and rushed to him.

Goku stepped back from Saru to gather the boy into his arms, "I've missed you, son," he said.

"Goku," Saru murmured, "I… I'm sorry but… the only ones left are us two and Krillin."

"Hi…" Krillin groaned from off in the distance, laying on his stomach, covered in wounds.

"I brought sensu beans," Goku pulled out three beans and pressed one into Gohan's palm and the others to Saru's, "Please give one to Krillin. I'll take things from here."

"Goku," Saru stared at him, "I don't want you to fight them alone."

"I know we've always faced out enemies together, Saru," said Goku softly, "But this time, I want you to stay back."

"There's something you should know," said Saru as Gohan ate his bean and his wounds healed almost instantly, "The smaller one, Vegeta… I used a new technique on him."

Goku raised a brow, "Oh? Did it work?"

"Yes," said Saru, "But now I can feel all his pain and if he dies so will I."

"Wait, what?" Goku blinked in shock.

"I fused our souls," said Saru simply.

"But… then…" Goku looked over at Vegeta, "How am I supposed to defeat him…?"

"He won't hurt me, Goku, but he threatened Gohan. And as much as I don't want to wish him harm… I don't mind if it takes me dying to protect the Earth. You can wish me back, remember?" she said, gripping her brother's arm.

"Saru, it's not that simple… Piccolo's dead," Goku muttered.

Saru blinked. "Oh…" she breathed.

That was right… Piccolo was Kami's other half, and like the Bond, if one died so did the other, and with no Kami… no Dragon Balls.

"So I can't kill him if it means killing you," said Goku, "But I have no choice but to make him leave. I'm sorry if this hurts you, Saru."

"My pain doesn't matter, Goku," said Saru firmly, glancing at her still bloody hands, "I wish I could fight with you."

"It's okay, Saru," Goku sat Gohan down and faced the Saiyans, who seemed to be arguing with one another again, "King Kai trained me well."

"He's strong, Goku."

"I know."

The twins looked over at the Saiyans together for a moment. They seemed to end their argument and looked back at them. Nappa still looked angry from Saru's attack on him. But Vegeta was smirking. Saru could tell he figured the Bond was to his advantage now since he figured Goku would not hurt him out of fear of hurting his sister.

"What's the Scouter say about his power level Vegeta?" Nappa asked.

Vegeta checked the device on his face, the screen flickering. His smirk slid off his face like hot wax. Saru frowned. Oh, so that's what those things did.

"Vegeta?" Nappa prompted.

"It's… its' over nine thousand!" Vegeta breathed, taking off his Scouter and crushing it in his hand, bits of metal and wire raining down from his fist.

"What- nine thousand?!" cried Nappa, "That thing must be broken," he recovered from his shock and smirked toward Goku, "There's no way Kakarot is that strong. Just watch."

Goku and Nappa began to battle, and it was obvious who was superior. Goku dodged every single hit and landed ever blow he delivered, quickly turning the foul enemy that had fallen so many into a bleeding pulp. As the fight tore on, Saru went over to Krillin and gave him a sensu bean.

"Thanks, Saru," he said as his wounds healed and he stood up, looking up at the fight, "Wow… Goku has gotten so much stronger… I can't believe his chi! This is amazing…."

Saru nodded as Gohan cheered, "Go Daddy!"

Vegeta let out a snort and yelled up at the brawling pair, "Nappa!"

They sprang apart and looked down at Vegeta.

"What?" Nappa called.

"Get down here. You're just embarrassing yourself. He's obviously outpacing you," said Vegeta, "It's my turn."

"But Vegeta-" Nappa began.

"Nappa." Vegeta set the larger Saiyan with a dark glare.

Nappa let out a frustrated sigh and slowly descended. Goku looked a little surprised and frowned down at them as Nappa landed.

"I can at least have the two little ones, right?" Nappa asked.

"Fine, whatever, I don't care," scoffed Vegeta, "Just remember not to harm Celira."

"Excellent," Nappa smirked and began to rush toward Saru, Gohan, and Krillin.

There was a sharp noise, like a blade swinging through the air, and suddenly, Goku was in front of Nappa. Nappa let out a yowl of surprise and threw a punch, but Goku ducked it and rolled around him. With one swift movement, Goku slammed his fist into Nappa's back and lifted him into the air with one hand, making the Saiyan scream in agony before Goku tossed him over to Vegeta's feet.

"Whoa," Krillin breathed, "I-I didn't even see him move! How did he get over here so fast?"

Saru was surprised as well. Her twin had improved so much! She wondered if he was stronger than her now. His speed… it was uncanny.

"V-Vegeta-" Nappa gasped in pain, reaching shakily up to the Prince, "I- I can't feel m-my legs!"

Vegeta looked down at his fallen comrade with a face of almost indifference. Saru felt her gut begin to tighten.

"P-please Vegeta…" Nappa kept reaching up to him, "Help me…"

Vegeta slowly reached out and took Nappa's hand. His face was still set in stone. Nappa smiled.

"Thank you, Vegeta."

Vegeta smirked. Saru snatched Krillin up under her arm in the same motion as Goku grabbed Gohan. They both knew what was coming. As they leapt into the air, Vegeta tossed Nappa up and shot him with a blast so massive it coated the ground around him in a hundred yard radius. Goku and Saru with their passengers were clear of the blast in time, however Saru still heard the devastating scream of Nappa and felt the sick pleasure coursing through Vegeta.

"A useless ally isn't an ally at all!" Vegeta crowed.

Slowly, the light faded and Saru released Krillin so he could fly on his own. She saw Goku place Gohan on Nimbus.

There was no sign of Nappa. He'd been turned to ash.

"He killed his own partner," breathed Krillin.

Saru closed her eyes tightly. How could this be? She could feel his core within her, his vicious happiness at the sight of death and destruction, even from his companion. Vegeta… could he really have a heart so stained with darkness?

"I want you three to go back to Kame House," said Goku, "You'll be safe there."

"But, Dad, I want to help you!" Gohan whined.

Krillin seemed to be going through some deep thought before he spoke, "Goku is right."

"What?" Gohan gasped, "Krillin-"

"I want to stay and help too, Gohan," said Krillin sharply, "But we'll just be a distraction to your father. If Vegeta got a hold of you or me, he could use us against Goku," he looked at Saru, "You too, Saru."

"I'm not leaving," said Saru firmly.

"Please, I would fight better if I knew you were safe," said Goku.

"Saru, I know you could go up against the big guy, but Vegeta just killed him in one blast, and he doesn't even seem tired from it!" Krillin pressed.

"That doesn't change that I'm staying," said Saru firmly, "He can't hurt me."

"Saru-" Goku began.

"No, Goku you're not convincing me otherwise. I will stay and I'll help in any way I can. Besides," she closed her eyes, "If worse comes to worse, we can use me to hurt him."

"It's not going to come to that," said Goku firmly.

Goku sighed and looked down at Vegeta who was smiling up at them.

"He isn't even trying to attack," said Krillin, "It's like he isn't even worried."

"He isn't," said Saru softly, feeling the eerie calm coming from him, "He feels that he can win without breaking a sweat, even seeing what Goku did to Nappa."

"Gohan, Krillin, go," said Goku, "Saru, keep close for now."

"Okay," said Saru, glancing at her brother before looking at Gohan and Krillin, "Keep safe, you two."

"No worries," said Krillin, "Come on, Gohan."

"Be safe dad, Auntie Saru," Gohan said as he and Krillin turned and flew away, off into the distance.

Vegeta laughed below them. Goku and Saru faced him to see him still smiling up at them.

"It doesn't matter," he told them, "They're going to die anyway, you all are, well…" he glared at Saru, "Except you. I'll have to find some other way to deal with you, Celira. Now, my fellow Saiyans, shall we begin?"

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:::**_

_** Woo, it's been a long time coming, right? So I wanted to mention, for my readers of the original "The Bond" that as you might have noticed, Rilan's story is a bit different. He starts off being a known rebel instead of one of Frieza's men secretly trying to overthrow him. And we also have Sol and Eagla with him, if you guys remember them. I also had Lecron start out being one being instead of fusing him later. **_

_** To all my readers, new and old, I wanted to mention that yes, right now Saru is very… passive. I understand this might be frustrating for some people, since I normally have very strong female leads in my stories. Don't get me wrong, Saru is very strong. She has the same thing Gohan has, where when she's backed into a corner she can snap. However, Saru has the potential to already control that power, she just chooses not to because she hates violence so much. I was going to say, this is going to change. Part of her character development is going to be getting over her aversion of causing others pain even if their jerk-wads. Keep in mind, she's going to be pairing up with Vegeta at some point, not to mention his personality is leaking a bit through the Bond. So Saru will not always be so timid about fighting for real. She'll eventually get over it. **_

_** The reason I'm telling you all this is that even while I was writing this chapter, with the scene with Nappa and how she stopped when she came back too, I was mad at Saru. I was! The person writing her! I was thinking, what are you DOING throw a freaking punch! Don't stop, kill that bastard! But for the sake of Saru's personality, she couldn't because she was so disgusted with herself for losing it. I did not want her to go OOC, even though she's my character. **_

_** So rest assure, Saru will change. We just have to deal with her frustrating ways a little bit longer. AS always, thanks for reading, following, reviewing, and the favorites! You guys are the best. **_

_**-Red **_


	6. Vegeta VS Goku & Saru

They relocated to a different area, a more secluded wasteland away from the fallen bodies of their comrades. Saru landed beside her twin and Vegeta landed on a short spire above them, smirking wickedly down at them, arms crossed.

"Saru, you need to get somewhere safe," said Goku firmly.

"If I stay by you it will be harder for him to hit you while he's trying to avoid me," said Saru.

"But I'll be trying to avoid you too," said Goku, glancing at her.

"You know my moves better than anyone," said Saru, "You can move around me like it's nothing."

Goku sighed heavily, glancing warily at her. But from the look they exchanged, Saru knew Goku understood she was right. He wasn't going to argue with her.

"Don't let him make the first move," she murmured, "Ready?"

Goku nodded, "Just one second."

He took off the top part of his jumper, and stripped off his weighted shirt.

"Oh, I completely forgot!" said Saru, "I've worn them for so long, I can hardly tell they're there!" she laughed and took off her own top part of her jumper and began to pull off her weighted shirt.

She felt a prick of alarm from Vegeta in the back of her mind. As she tossed her shirt to the ground with a heavy thud and looked up at him he saw he was staring at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Getting comfortable!" she responded with a grin.

She pulled back up her jumper's top and Vegeta seemed to calm down a little, returning back into his previous bravado.

"Oh that's right, the weighted clothing. I forgot about that detail from Raditz's transmissions. It won't help you here," he said.

As the twins took off their wristbands and shoes in unison, Goku grinned up at Vegeta, "I just know I can't hold back with you."

"Oh? You're not frightened about killing dear Celira?" laughed Vegeta.

"Don't let him use that," said Saru firmly, "We can do this Goku."

"I know," said Goku, but his look of harsh determination lacked complete confidence.

"Now!" Saru breathed and together, the siblings rushed forward.

Vegeta seemed surprised that they were both coming to him at once. As Saru expected, he avoided her completely, instead making to meet Goku head on and dodge her attack. However, swerving out of the way of Saru left him wide open for Goku's attack. Goku's punch landed him square across the face, making him jolt back a ways into the air. Saru yelped in pain and clutched her jaw, cringing. She could feel Vegeta's pure shock at the fact that Goku's attack actually hurt him.

"Saru!" Goku cried, looking over at her, eyes wide and distraught.

Saru felt Vegeta feel a surge of anger, and she wailed, "Goku, look out!"

Too late, Vegeta straightened from the punch, and twisted in the air, slamming a kick into Goku, sending him flying down to the ground where he smashed into the earth, buried in rubble.

"Goku!" Saru shouted.

Vegeta laughed, triumph pumping through him and he looking over at Saru, "Well, congratulations, Celira, truly! Not only did you make it so I can't kill you, but now neither can you or your stupid brother can kill me! He doesn't even have the stomach to hit me! I'm going to kill him right in front of you, rip out his guts and-"

WAM!

Saru's punch made her yelp out in pain, but it also sent Vegeta into the ground. She gasped for a moment, catching her breath, holding her cheek.

_It's not real_, she told herself_, I'm fine this isn't my pain._

Goku burst out of the rubble, looking up at Saru then down at where Vegeta was picking himself off the ground.

"You bitch!" Vegeta spat, "I'm going to make you pay, I'm going to destroy this precious little world of yours!"

"I'm sorry about this Saru," said Goku, "I have to stop him. Just stay back."

"Goku I'm not letting you face him alone!" Saru called.

"You have to!" Goku shouted, looking up at her with a surprisingly angry looking face, "You'll just get in the way!"

Saru blinked in astonishment, a pain going through her chest. She stared down at her brother's harsh eyes. Surely, he was just being mean to make sure she stayed safe. He didn't mean those words. He couldn't. They were still twins, they still always counted on one another, trusted one another! He couldn't…

"But…" Saru breathed, "Goku…"

"I mean it, Saru," snapped Goku, looking back at Vegeta, "Stay back!"

Vegeta was standing again, and he glared at Goku, "Do you really think you stand a chance against me alone, Kakarot?" he scoffed, and then laughed, "I didn't know you were so keen to die again! It'll be my pleasure!"

And so Saru watched. She watched with a terrible feeling inside her, mingling with Vegeta's rage as Goku and him brawled across the landscape. She felt utterly helpless. _It shouldn't be like this, _she thought_, I should be helping him! I've always been there for Goku, we've always faced everything together! _Was it a mistake, she wondered, a mistake to plant the Bond on Vegeta? Had she only succeeded in making everything so much worse?

Now all she could do was try to hide her cries of pain whenever Goku managed to land a hit on Vegeta. However, the prince was obviously out pacing Goku. It didn't take long for her brother to be laying on the ground, his clothing in shreds. He slowly picked himself up, glaring at Vegeta, but a small smile hit him.

"You're strong," he said, and Saru could see that tell tale sign of excitement in her brother's eyes. The excitement for a challenge. Goku hadn't faced someone stronger than him since Piccolo at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

"I'd thank you for the compliment, but I think I feel much better by saying go fuck yourself," Vegeta said with a smirk, "But if you are so impressed with my abilities, I suppose you would be pleased to hear this isn't even my full potential."

"Really?" panted Goku, "Well then. I better step it up."

Vegeta perked a brow and Saru felt a hint of wariness come from him. He was already astounded that Goku could even land hits on him. He didn't want to think Goku was still holding back too.

"Kaioken!" cried Goku and a red glow enveloped his body, and then with astonishing speed, he launched at Vegeta and landed a hard hit on him, sending him flying into a nearby mountain.

Saru felt the pain like a train hit her across the face. She fell from the sky, unable to hide her cry of agony. Landing roughly on the ground she tried to regain her senses. Her world was spinning wildly.

"Saru!"

Goku was there, kneeling at her side. She opened her eyes to see all the wounds on his body and she felt grief wave over her.

"Goku you're hurt," she whispered.

"Saru, I'm sorry," Goku said softly, "I really am. Just hang in there, okay? I promise, I'll make him leave."

Saru looked up at him and bit her lip, "Goku I'm sorry," she said back, "I should have never done it, it was dumb, but I couldn't think of anything else to do- he was- he killed…"

"I know," said Goku, "I'll take care of it Saru," he said, "It's my turn to save you."

Saru closed her eyes. It was true, she had ended up being the one to actually kill King Piccolo. It was her wild rage, that anger that could rip through her like it did with Nappa. She barely even remembered it. But it was only Goku's voice that brought her back. He reminded her of who she really was. But Saru wasn't proud of that. She never wanted to kill anyone.

Goku turned and flew away. But Saru screamed after him.

"Goku don't hold back! I can take it! Don't let him hurt anyone else! PROMISE ME!"

Goku didn't look back, but Saru knew he heard her. She knew he couldn't bring himself to promise her. To kill Vegeta if it meant killing her. But Saru was terrified that killing him was going to be the only way to stop him.

The fight went on for what seemed like hours. Saru kept trying to get up, to fly and see what was happening. But as Goku inflicted damage on Vegeta, she kept being sent back to the ground. Eventually she hid under a small rock overhang and closed her eyes, trying to meditate her way through ignoring Vegeta's pain. It wasn't constant, thankfully, but that also meant he was keeping up with Goku.

That was, until the kamehameha wave.

Vegeta was angry, furious even, after a particularly bad beating from Goku. He flew up into the air and Saru looked up with wide eyes, feeling that dark anger licking in the back of her mind.

"Oh no," she breathed, "Vegeta don't!"

"I don't care anymore!" Vegeta bellowed, "You insolent fools! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU! THIS ENTIRE RETCHED WORLD!"

"If you kill me, you'll die too!" Saru shouted, flying up into the air, "STOP VEGETA!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Vegeta, "GATLIC GUN!"

Vegeta's power level spiked and Saru flinched as he gathered energy in his hand and shoot a massive violet beam down at Goku. But her brother was ready for it. He shot up his own rocket of energy up at him, the classic kamehameha, and the two beams met in the middle, a blast exploding across the landscape that threatened to knock Saru off her feet. Such power! She couldn't believe it. How much stronger had Goku become?

For a moment, Vegeta's beam seemed to be making purchase, and Saru tensed, waiting to watch her brother get consumed in fire. But that mysterious red light bathed Goku once again, and a new burst of power rolled up the line of energy, shooting it up at Vegeta so hard and fast that when it made contact, Vegeta was sent sailing up into the air. He went so far that he eventually vanished into the sky.

But Saru was only seeing this as she fell from the sky, her entire body wreathed in terrible pain.

Arms caught her before she hit the ground and gently set her down, but still supported her torso.

"Saru! Saru! Are you okay?" Goku's voice came to her.

Saru winced in pain and tried to shut it out. Not me, not my pain, I'm fine, my body is fine, I'm not hurt!

"Good shot…" she breathed.

"Saru…" Goku breathed.

"I'm okay," Saru managed to smile up at him, as the pain subsided a bit. Vegeta had ripped free from the blast. But her skin still felt like it was on fire, "He's recovering."

"Can you… can you tell what he's doing?" Goku asked.

"I…" Saru closed her eyes, "I… let me…"

And quite suddenly she was Vegeta.

He was soaring high above the ground, looking around desperately. She could feel the pain of his wounds, and his sudden desperation. He was looking for something. But as he flew about, he grew more and more frustrated. He couldn't find it.

Vegeta couldn't find the moon.

Saru gasped as she came back to herself, looking up to see her brother's face come into focus.

"He's… looking for the moon," she rasped.

"The moon?" Goku blinked, "But why?"

"I… wait," said Saru, "Goku… remember what Raditz said?" she managed to sit up as Vegeta managed to look past his pain, she could too, "He said with a nice full moon we could have… you know…"

"Oh that's right," said Goku, eyes widening, "But what could it mean if he finds the moon?"

"I don't know, but he won't find it," said Saru, "Piccolo blew it up."

"Piccolo blew it up? Why?" Goku looked bewildered.

"No idea. I told him it was mean, that you and I had to lose our tails to bring that back from when Jackie Chun destroyed it," said Saru.

"And Raditz said something about us losing our tails when he talked about the moon," said Goku slowly, "Saru, do you think it's linked? Vegeta still has his tail!"

"Goku…" Saru felt a sudden horror fill her, "Do you remember Grandpa telling us a monster would come out during the full moon…? And that we should never go out and look at it…?"

Goku stiffened. He and Saru stared at one another with grief building in their eyes.

"Oh no…" Goku whispered.

"The house… that collapsed on Grandpa…" Saru felt tears threatening her eyes, "Oh Goku, was it us?"

"So!"

They both flinched and looked over to see Vegeta landed a few yards away. Saru had been so caught up in her terrible revelation that she never felt him coming. He was smirking at them.

"You think destroying the moon would save you, is that it? I didn't take you for smart ones, Kakarot and Celira. But it wasn't good enough!" he crowed, "I've long since learned to create an artificial moon for those worlds that lacked one. So while I congratulate you for your creativity, I will still take great pleasure in killing you! Or at least you, Kakarot. Celira will get to watch until I figure out how to kill her too."

With that, he shot a ball of energy up into the sky. It left Vegeta himself weak, and he panted for a moment before looking up and locking his eyes with the light that hung in the sky.

And his body began to change.

Saru and Goku looked up with wide eyes as Vegeta's face morphed and fur began to grow on his skin, and he grew and grew until he was at least five stories tall, his body completely transformed into that of a massive ape. He roared and stomped a foot, amazingly his armor had grown with him. Saru expected it to tear or break away but it seemed to be made for this kind of thing.

And that power. Vegeta's power level had rocketed. Yet at the same time, Saru felt her own body doing something odd. She wasn't transforming, but there were spasms going through her and she felt her vision lapsing. Goku was in front of her for a moment, and then suddenly he was far away, down on the ground, holding-

Holding her.

"Saru! Saru, what's wrong? Saru!" Goku's voice sounded close yet far off at the same time.

It was the transformation. Somehow, just the sheer power of it had yanked Saru's awareness right out of her body, and now, she was within Vegeta's mind, seeing things as he did. She wanted to think that it was because the difference in their power levels had just shifted so traumatically, their bound souls made the survival tactic to huddle more in one body than the other.

Soon the bouncing back and forth stopped all together. She was Vegeta- or rather, a passenger in his mind, looking through his eyes, having no control over his movements. She looked down at Goku as he tried to shake Saru's body awake.

"Saru! Please!" he pressed fingers to her throat and breathed out, "She's alive… Saru, what's wrong? Wake up!"

Goku glare up at Vegeta, "What did you do to her?!" he demanded.

"Me?"

Astounding! Vegeta could still talk in this form! He seemed to have complete control over himself, unlike what must have happened whenever Goku and Saru changed…

"I can feel the bitch's little eyes in my skull, but I didn't do a damn thing," said Vegeta, with a laugh that rumbled the earth.

Goku glared up at him for a moment longer before scooping Saru up in his arms and flying off to stash her into a nearby cave. He came back out and looked up at Vegeta with hatred.

"I won't let you get away with what you've put her through!" he cried.

"What I've put her through?" Vegeta laughed, "Don't be an idiot, I'm not the one who put this infuriating curse between us! She's the one who will pay for what she's done to me! But first, it's time to get rid of you, Kakarot, you insect… I'm going to crush you into dust, and I can only pray Celira sees the whole thing!"

Saru willed her brother to run, feeling the almighty power coursing through Vegeta's new body. Goku managed to dodge most of the attacks, but he was also getting hit by a fair few as well. It wouldn't be long before he would be completely overwhelmed. She prayed that he would be able to do something, anything to stop this evil Saiyan. And just before Vegeta slammed a mighty fist on top of Goku, he lifted his hands to his face and screamed, "SOLAR FLARE!"

There was a blinding light, and Saru's- no- Vegeta's eyes were shot with pain of the sudden brightness. Vegeta clutched his eyes, screaming in pain and rage, "My eyes! Damn it, my eyes!"

Saru wished she could see what Goku was doing, but all she saw was what Vegeta could see and he wasn't seeing much of anything at the moment. It was the moon- they had to find some way to get rid of that moon he made! But how? It was artificial, just a light in the sky like a star.

Finally, Vegeta managed to open his eyes, but everything was blurred for several moments. Vegeta squinted around him, but Goku was gone. Saru wondered what he was planning. She couldn't sense power because she was in Vegeta's mind, and he was unable to do so. Smart, Goku, she thought, blinding him so you can sneak up on him.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta screamed, "Where are you?! I will find you, Kakarot!"

He stomped about the landscape, but Saru noticed he kept away from the cave she was hidden in. Vegeta slashed boulders and small mountains from his path, roaring in rage, and finally, he spotted him.

Goku was just below him, hands up in the air for some strange reason. Was he surrendering? No, Saru saw the glimmer of power in his palms. He was gathering energy. But she had never seen this technique before. Did he learn it from King Kai like he did that Kaioken attack? Vegeta swiped Goku off his feet with a swing of his massive arm, sending the Saiyan flying into a rock spire and crushing it with his impact. Vegeta laughed victoriously as he walked over and slammed his foot on Goku's legs, making her brother scream in agony.

Saru felt panic flood her at the sight of Goku in pain_. No!_ She begged, _I'm the one that made you so angry, Vegeta, leave Goku out of it, please!_

"Oh, I'm sorry," Vegeta snarled, "Did I just break your shins?"

Goku managed to open his eyes to glare up at Vegeta, shaking with pain. A sudden orb of energy formed in his hands and he tossed it. With expert aim, it landed directly into Vegeta's right eye.

Vegeta screamed wildly, clutching it and stumbling back a few paces, "Not the eye again!" he wailed.

Goku had done some serious damage. Vegeta could well be blinded in the eye for the rest of his life now. The pain was excruciating. Saru was astounded that she could feel everything he did so vividly, even more so than when she was awake. It had to do with being within his mind.

"LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!"

Vegeta slowly opened his good eye and turned to see little Gohan atop a rock spire, glaring him down. No! Saru thought, he was supposed to leave!

"Oh," laughed Vegeta, "Your 'daddy'? This man here?" he reached down and gathered Goku in his massive hands and squeezed him before Gohan's young eyes, making Goku shriek.

"STOP IT!" Gohan screamed, shaking with rage.

_Get out of there, Gohan!_ Saru tried to scream, but it didn't work, no one could hear her from in here.

"What is a half-breed like you going to do about it?" Vegeta snarled, squeezing Goku again, cracking every rib in his body.

"I said stop!" Gohan threw a blast of energy but it bounced off Vegeta's armor like a ping pong ball.

"You have to do better than-"

Vegeta was suddenly aware of Krillin standing on a cliff behind him just in time to leap over a bright yellow disc of energy flying at him. It whizzed under him, and Vegeta watched as it went soaring toward Gohan. It was too low, only hitting the spire the child was upon, but it sliced it clean, the top of it hovering in the air for a moment before slamming back down, making Gohan fall on all fours.

"… that," Vegeta finished his sentence as if nothing happened. "Fools!" Vegeta cried, "You think such a pathetic attempt of a trap could work? Now you'll die slowly- but only when I'm finished with Kakarot!"

Vegeta was about to squeeze the life out of Goku, Saru could feel the violence spilling forth from his heart.

_Why?_ She thought, _Why are you so destructive? So angry? Who could have possibly made you this way?_ For some reason, Saru wanted to fight that person. Wanted to make them pay for ever putting so much rage into Vegeta's heart. The things that must have been done to him to make him like this must have been awful._ I'll find them_, Saru decided, _and I'll make sure they never do this to anyone ever again._

But there was a sharp pain that echoed throughout his entire body. Saru wanted to scream in agony, but could only sit silently in Vegeta's eyes as he stood there, his mouth gaping and a choking sound coming out, his entire body beginning to shake. He dropped Goku, and Saru didn't even see where her brother landed because Vegeta was in too much pain to look.

It was his tail.

Someone had severed his tail.

Saru watched in awe as Vegeta slowly went back to his normal size. Once he was back to human form he fell on his knees gasping. But Saru knew he was not beat. Goku was already out of his way, and in this form, Gohan, Krillin, and the sneaky one who sliced his tail would be no issue for him. He slowly got to his feet, shaking in anger. His eyes went to Gohan, then to Krillin, and he began to laugh.

"This changes nothing!" he cried, "You're all going to die- and now you've made me even more mad!"

And Saru awoke.

Saru jumped to her feet, but staggered. She felt so weak. Vegeta was feeling weak- that was why. Despite there being enough power in him to face Gohan and Krillin, he was in a lot of pain. Saru forced herself out of the cave, looking desperately around. How could Gohan and Krillin come back?! She couldn't let Vegeta hurt them! And she had to find Goku.

However, as soon as she got into the open, Krillin went flying right by her and slammed into the rocky wall to her right, sliding down, landing on the ground in a heap with a painful cough.

"Krillin!" Saru wailed, rushing to him and bending down, "Are you okay?"

"Urgh…" Krillin sat up, rubbing his head, "Damn it that smarts… Saru?"

Saru pulled him to his feet, "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We sensed Vegeta's power rocket, and… we knew you needed help," said Krillin softly.

"You should have stayed away," said Saru, looking over, "We only have one chance to beat him, Krillin. You have to kill me."

"What?!" Krillin yelped, "Saru, no! No way am I doing that! You're one of my best friends! I won't!"

"You have to!" said Saru desperately, "If I die, so will he! We can't let him hurt anyone else! He's going to kill Gohan! Kill Goku! Everyone! The whole world! Please, Krillin!" she felt tears in her eyes.

"I…" Krillin looked away, "I… just can't… Saru, you can't be wished back! I won't be responsible for that!"

She turned at the sudden spark of energy and saw Gohan was attacking Vegeta head on- and the little squirt was actually hitting him every so often.

"Wow," she and Krillin said in unison and then glanced at each other.

"There's no way Gohan can keep that up," said Saru softly, "I can't let Vegeta hurt him!"

"But you can't hurt him, Saru!" said Krillin sharply.

Saru winced as Gohan dealt a heavy blow to Vegeta, feeling the pain herself in her gut. Gohan was actually doing damage! Was it some of that hidden power that he had in him?

"Krillin!"

It was Goku. They looked over at him laying a ways away, glanced up to make sure Vegeta and Gohan were far enough away, and then rushed to his side.

"Saru- are you okay?" Goku rasped.

"I'm fine," Saru assured, flinching only a little when Gohan managed to punch Vegeta again, "But Goku, we have to hurry- he's fighting Gohan!"

"I know," Goku grunted, "Krillin," he held out his hand toward him, "I need you to do something."

"Sure," said Krillin, taking his hand, "What is it?"

"Take this energy," said Goku, "It- it's a spirit bomb."

"What?" Krillin gasped, "But- Goku give it to Saru- what if I miss?"

"I can't ask Saru to hurt herself," said Goku in a rasp, "I did my best to make sure it wasn't strong enough to kill him. But it's going to sting."

There was a bright light that glowed around their joined hands. Saru was amazed at the power she felt from it. When they let go of one another, Krillin was gazing at his still glowing hand with awe.

"Make it- make it into a ball," Goku breathed.

A great look of concentration came across Krillin's face and then, from his palm burst a great blue-white orb of power. Saru stared at it with wide eyes. It was like all of the world's energy was compressed into that thing.

"You can't miss," Goku whispered, "We only get one shot. I can't make another."

"O-okay," said Krillin softly.

"Saru, I'm sorry," said Goku, looking at her, "I promise I'll never hurt you again."

"I'll stay here with you," she told him, "He and Gohan are far off now. Krillin," she looked at him, "Good luck."

Krillin nodded and flew off, the orb in his hand.

"Goku," Saru looked along his broken and bloodied body, "What about the senzu beans you gave us? Got any more?"

"Those were my last ones," Goku managed to grunt.

"We better hope this works, then," said Saru, clenching Goku's hand.

Saru heard it. The power of the Spirit Bomb whizzing through the air. She looked over and saw that Vegeta had Gohan cornered, and Krillin had shot the bomb at his turned back. It was going to strike! It had to!

But Vegeta turned just before it reached him, eyes growing wide and darting upward, letting it zoom harmlessly beneath him. She heard Krillin let out a cry of defeat. But it was over. The bomb was heading straight for little Gohan, and Saru thought she was going to see her nephew die before her eyes, but he thrust out his small hands and bounced the bomb back at Vegeta.

This time, it did not miss.

The power consumed him, and the blast was so mighty that Katima shielded Goku with her torso as bits of debris went flying around them.

There was a scream, Vegeta's scream, and then, Saru's scream joined it as she fell to her side, curling up into a ball, her entire body burning in agony. It felt like it was going to continue forever. But finally, it dulled a bit. Saru felt like she was falling for a moment. She opened her eyes slightly to see Krillin and Gohan standing over her.

"Auntie Saru! Are you okay?" Gohan asked.

"I… ah!" Saru winced in pain, and cringed, trying to block it out.

"Saru!" Goku rasped.

"R-Really- I'm fine," Saru rasped.

And then the pain stopped.

Saru blinked and sat up, looking around.

"Saru?" Krillin said uncertainly.

"I- it… stopped…" Saru said, frowning, "But that doesn't make any sense! He can't be dead, or I would be dead. But I can't feel his pain or… him… the Bond is quiet…"

"Maybe that thing was wrong, and he can die without you dying too!" said Krillin hopefully.

"Or he's unconscious," said Gohan, looking over at Krillin, "That would make the most sense, because Saru can only feel the pain he feels, and if he's out cold, he's not feeling anything."

"Why do you have to one up me like that, kid?" sighed Krillin.

"Kid's smart. Make sense to me."

Saru turned and beamed when she recognized a familiar heavy set short figure.

"Yajirobi!"

"Hey Saru. S'up Goku. You all look like you've been through hell," said the man wearing traditional Japanese garb, beholding a long mane of black hair, and a katana sheathed at his hip.

"You were the one who cut off Vegeta's tail, weren't you?" asked Goku with a small smile.

"Yeah, you're welcome," said Yajirobi with a scoff, "No big deal, just ensured victory and saved the world it all."

"Thanks, Yajirobi!" said Saru with a big beam, "I knew you weren't really uselessly lazy like what Korin says!"

Yajirobi sighed, "Gee thanks, Saru."

WAM!

They all yelped and jumped when something slammed into the ground a few yards away. Looking over, Saru saw it was Vegeta. He was laying there in a heap, his armor in complete tatters. Wounds covered his body, blood trailing from nearly all of them. It was almost sad seeing him broken like that. Saru got to her feet and frowned over at him.

"Is he dead?" asked Yajirobi warily.

"He can't be," said Saru, "Or I would be too."

"What should we do?" asked Gohan.

"I still think there might be a chance he's really dead," said Krillin, and began to approach Vegeta.

"Krillin, no, stop," said Saru firmly.

Krillin knelt by Vegeta's motionless form, "Come on, Saru, look! He's gotta be dead."

He reached forward to check a pulse. Saru felt tense, but Krillin brought his hand back and stood, grinning at her, "See? Dead."

But then Saru felt the pain suddenly come back. She gasped and fell to one knee, "Krillin run!"

"Huh-?!" Krillin turned just in time to get smacked across the face and sent flying aside into a spire which crumbled upon impact.

"Krillin!" yelled Saru as Vegeta managed to stagger to his feet, looking infuriated.

"I've… had… enough!" he cried, "You stupid rotten humans, you defective Saiyans! You rats! You are but vermin compared to me! You dare do this to me! TO ME?! The PRINCE of all Saiyans! I'M ROYALTY! THE ELITE! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME!"

"Oh shit!" Yajirobi was backing up, visibly shaking with fear, "Time to go!"

"Auntie Saru, what do we do?" Gohan muttered.

Saru stood, shaking slightly, doing her best to block out the pain, "Yajirobi, kill me, quick! Run me through, it will kill him too!"

"What?" yelped Yajirobi, "I couldn't-"

"You have to!" Saru bellowed.

"I don't think so, Celira," Vegeta was suddenly there, and a strong arm snaked around her, dragging her into his chest, pinning her there as he aimed out a hand at Yajirobi and Gohan, "You're the bastard who cut off my tail, aren't you? I'm going to make you suffer for that…"

"Uh- it was a joke!" Yajirobi said in desperation.

Vegeta shot a blast right at Yajirobi's feet, sending him flying backwards into a boulder where he landed upside down and remained there with dizzy looking eyes.

"Stop it!" Saru cried, "Leave them alone!"

"It's too late for that!" shrieked Vegeta, "I told you, you little bitch, I TOLD YOU! I'm going to kill ALL OF THEM! And since I can't kill you, you get to watch!"

Saru felt that feeling again. That desperation. She couldn't let this happen. She could not watch Vegeta kill her friends and family! A sudden fear flooded her_. I don't want to lose control_, she begged silently, _I don't want to become like him!_

Gohan let out a cry and tried to charge Vegeta, but with his free arm, the prince punched Gohan aside like a fly, sending him rolling into the ground a few yards away.

"GOHAN!" Saru shouted.

Vegeta laughed cruelly, pulled her with him as he approached the fallen boy.

"This is it, Celira," he murmured in her ear, "Are you ready to watch your nephew die?"

"You can't!" breathed Saru, "Vegeta, don't do this- please!"

"It's too late for begging," Vegeta growled.

However, he paused once he reached Gohan, staring down with a brow perked. Saru felt his surprise and she followed his gaze and blinked.

Gohan had a tail! Of course, Saru remembered that when she and Goku were young, their tails would grow back every time they were taken off, however Kami was the one to permanently remove them. So naturally, Gohan could grow his tail back too.

Gohan rolled over, panting, glaring up at Vegeta.

"Leave Auntie Saru alone!" he said, but then his eyes fixated on something over Vegeta's shoulder.

His eyes went red.

"No!" Vegeta tossed Saru aside. She went rolling and laid on her back for a moment, stunned before sitting up and yelping in shock.

Gohan was changing. Looking back, Saru saw that Vegeta's artificial moon was still hanging in the sky. And now, Gohan was changing into the giant ape. His clothes ripped apart, and fur blossomed on his skin, his face slowly forming into a snarling animalistic shape.

"Stop changing!" Vegeta cried, punching Gohan over and over in desperation, "Stop, stop, stop!"

It was too late. Vegeta stepped back as the boy grew and grew. He turned and ran toward Saru. She turned and began to sprint away from him, but in a mere heartbeat, she heard his feet leave the ground in flight, and he swiftly overtook her. His arms latched around her middle and he launched up into the air, turning for them to see Gohan begin to destroy everything in sight.

"Ha!" Vegeta laughed, "The boy has no idea how to channel this form," he grabbed Saru's chin to make her look at him, "We get to watch your darling nephew kill your friends and brother, now isn't that a treat?"

Saru bit him. Vegeta howled in pain and rage and yanked his hand away. Saru's own hand stung, but she didn't care. She squirmed wildly, trying to get away from him.

"Put me down!" she snapped, then took a breath at her own tone and looked back at him blinking, "Please?" she added on a softer note.

Vegeta glared at her, "You are the most pathetic excuse for a Saiyan," he muttered, "But I did see what you did to Nappa. That anger. That's good that some part of you still remembers what it is to live for battle," he smirked, "A shame. Once I figure out how to kill you, it will be ridding the universe of the last female Saiyan."

"I don't like it," Saru said softly, "I don't like losing control. I like being me! Being Saru Son! And you're not going to take it away from me! You're not!"

With a powerful burst of energy, she broke free from Vegeta, and instantly shot off toward Gohan.

"NO!" Vegeta screamed after her.

This is the only way, Saru knew it. If they couldn't defeat Vegeta, if it meant letting him kill her friends, her family… There was one last way to ensure all their safety. To make sure that the Earth was safe. She would let Gohan strike the final blow. She would let her nephew safe the world, by letting him kill her to kill Vegeta.

But then, Goku's voice was calling out, just as Saru was closing in on Gohan.

"Gohan!" he was crying, "Remember who you are! It's me, your father! We aren't your enemy!" he managed to point a horrible broken arm up to Vegeta, "HE IS!"

"Goddamn it!" Saru heard Vegeta curse loudly.

Gohan's eyes locked onto Vegeta and a huge blast formed in his open maw. It fired, making Saru loose her balance in the air and she fell to the ground. Upon landing she looked up to see that Vegeta had managed to dodge that attack. He was flying around the massive ape, narrowly dodging Gohan's flying fists. Saru got to her feet and began to run toward them. If she could just get hit by Gohan first- then it could all be over!

But Vegeta was behind Gohan now, and he formed a disc of energy in his hand over his head. With expert aim, he threw it and it sliced off Gohan's tail right at the root. Saru could hear him laugh victoriously. But as Gohan shook and began to shrink, he was too falling backwards. Vegeta let out a yell, and Saru saw him try to fly out of the way, but Gohan was shrinking fast enough.

With a mighty thud, Gohan slammed onto the ground, crushing Vegeta beneath him.

Saru let out a howl of pain and fell onto all fours, gasping. But throughout this battle she was getting better at separating their pain. She could hold onto some of herself, in a sense, and keep moving. She looked up, her vision blurring a little, but she focused hard on the fact that she was not the one crushed right now.

Vegeta was.

Gohan was normal now, but out cold. He lay naked a little ways from Vegeta, who appeared to be unconscious as well. But Saru still felt his pain, which meant he wasn't out completely.

Sure enough, she saw him struggle to sit up and fail. He coughed up some blood and with a shaking hand reached into his armor and pulled out what looked like a remote. He pressed a few buttons, which seemed to take great effort, and then let his arms fall to his sides and his head lay back, panting. In a few seconds, Saru heard a whistling sound. She looked up to see a small round pod flying toward them. It crashed into the ground close to Vegeta and the hatch opened.

Slowly, Vegeta began to crawl toward it.

He was leaving. He was running away. Just like Goku said he's make him.

Saru saw Krillin getting to his feet and snatching up Yajirobi's katana, a look of fury on his face, but he suddenly paused and looked toward Saru. He then looked back at Vegeta, who was very slowly, very painfully, crawling into his space pod.

"Damn it…" Krillin breathed and the katana clattered to the ground.

"I promise you," Vegeta rasped, "I will be back. And when I return, there will be no mercy," he grinned out at them all, blood coating his teeth, "I'm going to slaughter all of you… Kakarot especially… and Celira will get to see the whole thing. Every… detail…"

The hatch closed and the ship rocketed upward. Saru watched it go with wide eyes, her limbs shaking under her.

"We did it," she whispered before collapsing and being swallowed by darkness.


End file.
